Janet Kittams
President, Helpline Center
First recorded November 8, 2018
Janet Kittams is the president of the Helpline Center, a South Dakota nonprofit that began in the Sioux Falls community more than four decades ago. What began as an organization run by volunteers who answered the phone for individuals in crisis grew to the very first location west of the Mississippi River to provide a 211 Helpline.
The Helpline Center has been recognized by The Bush Foundation with a Community Innovation Grant and most recently, by Hey Sioux Falls with a Social Impact Innovator Award for their groundbreaking work in our state.
Now, Janet will sit down with Matt Ehlman PhD of The Numad Group to talk about what the future of coordinated community-based social services can—and will—look like. She’ll also share her experience leading the largest statewide suicide prevention effort, and the patience sometimes required to bring about community change.
Janet has been with agency for over 20 years in many roles, beginning as a volunteer. She has deep experience developing innovative social service networks, serving as a leader of a statewide effort that developed the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention, providing clinical guidance for the statewide suicide crisis line and outreach services for survivors of suicide, and creating capacity building workshops for nonprofit organizations.
She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Dakota and her master’s degree in counseling from the University of North Dakota. She is a licensed professional counselor.
