LETTERS

The Samaritans

500 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

February 1, 1996

Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
Boston, MA 02107-2378

To the Editor:

With regard to the article which appeared in the January 29 Metro section entitled "Mystery Envelops Samaritans":

• While the article correctly points out that there are Samaritans offices throughout Massachusetts, it did not make clear that each of these offices, as well as the over 300 Samaritans centers around the globe, are managed and operated completely independently. Samaritans branches are affiliated through a common mission and philosophy only.
  
  
• Anonymity and confidentiality are cornerstones of The Samaritans' befriending services. To the extent that the incident involving the Fall River Samaritans results in any caller's guarantee of confidentiality being compromised, it could seriously and tragically erode the confidence the public has had in the privacy of our telephone befriending services. For this reason, The Samaritans of Boston would like to reassure the community that we will never discuss any aspect of any call received without the caller's approval. This means that we do not even confirm the identity of a caller.
  
  
• Finally, as the lawsuit involving the Samaritans of Fall River progresses and continues to generate publicity, we hope that the press and the general public never lose sight of the crucially important work being done by all Samaritans centers. At the Samaritans of Boston, we heard from over 70,000 desperate, lonely, isolated and suicidal people last year. If this incident begins to tarnish the reputation of all Samaritans branches, the real victims of this episode will be those individuals who, in almost every other case, will have literally no other place to turn in times of crisis.

The volunteers, staff and Board of Directors of The Samaritans of Boston, as well as the thousands of people who benefit from our programs, truly appreciate the generous support of the Boston community. We hope that if any member of the community has any concerns about the integrity or quality of our agency's management, he or she will directly address them to The Samaritans of Boston rather than silently withdraw support.

The Boston Globe declined to print this letter. It is published here by written permission of Melisa A. Poulos.

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