Weekly Group Support Letter- Week of Feb 10

Hello Community,

I hope you all are doing well. Excited to share our weekly updates with you. A big shout out to each one of you for being proactive, supportive and helper. I noticed you all are supportive of each other in group support rooms. Sharing your thoughts, discussing and learning in various discussions hosted by the community moderators and discussion leaders. Thank you.

We received some appreciation messages from you to appreciate your fellow members. Send your shout out and appreciation to these wonderful stars by clicking this link – https://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupSupport_168/ASilentObserversOffice_2008/HighFivestoStarsoftheWeekWeekofFeb10_217171/

Okay, so here we are! Lets see what we did together in the last week.

• Firstly, as per our continuous discussions during weekly group support chats and suggestions, excited to share that we restarting mix n match discussions. Any room supporter, chat room moderator, the global moderator can sign up and host these discussions as per their convenience. It will allow us to participate in different topic discussions and give more coverage to our support needs. To learn more about this, click this link –https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SeU1jmH7rR37mQKyFwGu6tIR72kCHrmLgs08mhNNVKI/edit#gid=1024667971

If you are a room supporter, chat room moderator or global mod and interested to host some discussions, you can check and sign up this sheet.

• Secondly, as per your continuous suggestions on the badge lock criteria that how you are not feeling comfortable with member oath task, we removed it from the requirement to join group support rooms. The current requirement to join rooms are as follows –
• • If you are a member, you will need only –
    • Chief Chat and Honest Voice badges to join Support Room and Member Community Room
    • Chief Chat, Honest Voice and Strong bond 1 badges to join topic rooms like Anxiety Support, Depression Support, etc.
  • If you are a listener, you will need only –
    • Loyal Friend, First Chat and Listener Oath badges to join Support Room and Member Community Room.
    • Loyal Friend, First Chat, Open Door and Listener Oath badges to join topic rooms like Anxiety Support, Depression Support, etc.
    • To learn what tasks you need to do to get these badges, read this post here https://www.7cups.com/forum/GroupModZone_168/ObsDesk_2008/AnnouncementEasytoJoinGroupSupportRoomsNOW_215387/1/#2170045

• Also, if you have feedback on the recent changes in the group support, share your thoughts here!

• Thirdly, as per earlier discussions and suggestions, if any user having suicidal or self-harm thoughts, they will be muted followed by one reminder and sharing of relevant resources to get support on. We hope it helps to ensure to cut down the unrest in the rooms, keep it supportive and help such users to reach out and get proper support through proper channels. Only Community Moderators will be issuing instant mute followed by a reminder for now. While our other chat room moderators keep issuing verbal reminders and then 3 system warnings (Refuse the Crisis Resources) to mute them.
• Fourth, apart from the major guidelines mentioned in the chat room rules and guidelines, there are a few other things which we need to keep in mind –
• Do not use CAPS. The reason behind it is it feels like yelling and as many members experiencing different struggles, it can be triggering and uncomforting for them. So, it is asked to use small caps while you type your message in the group support rooms to chat with others. Help us build a supportive, comforting and inclusive chat rooms for each other.
• Do not give advice even if you are an expert in your field. As we strictly comply with the code of conduct in our respective professions. We need to respect and follow the site guidelines.

Other improvement plans are in-progress. We will continue to address all our concerns one by one with group discussion and team efforts. Thank you for your patience and for being with us.

Some helpful resources you would like to check-

• If you have an appreciation for a moderator, room supporter or listener- please use this Review form!
• If you have an appreciation for a member- please submit your appreciation through this form!
• Group Support - FAQs
• AMA w/ Group Support Manager
• Weekly CommunityMod & Rooms Schedule
• Steps of Growth as a Listener!!
• More Group Support Updates!

@GlenM @Heather225 @Hope @BrilliantTurtle89 @WendyBird15 @Kindsoul10