Update!

All,

Hope you are well! It has been a while since Ive been able to post with any regularity. Fortunately, I have more time - finally - to engage more on things. I wanted to take a minute to share some updates with you.

Startups are tough. Mental health startups are really tough. The thing that separates us is that we are a community of compassionate people dedicated to helping one another out. We are a small city of people aligned on this purpose. Our shared values make our startup considerably more meaningful and purposeful. Ultimately we are and always will be a place where people like you and I can volunteer to help another person by simply listening. That is something special.

One part of running a startup is paying the bills. When we first launched we had a very small team and we were running out of money. We figured out online therapy and that allowed us to keep the lights on. Universities and other organizations came on and that helped too. When we generate more revenue we are able to hire people to further build up our city (better street lights, teachers, firefighters etc.); when we have less revenue we need to let some of those people go in order to best support the city. These times are particularly challenging. More recently, we had to let some people go and this was very difficult for us and has meant less people to help in the city.

Some of you noticed the group room announcement. That is part of the scaling back. Not ideal I know, but we have limited resources at present so we have to be as smart as possible with what we do have. Everyone on the team is working hard to grow revenue so we can scale back up. We are pretty good at this, but things take time to unfold.

Ordinarily we like to give time for discussion and processing before we make a big change, but sometimes we need to act quickly. Ultimately our rooms require an adjustment to help keep them safe as possible. We understand that change can be incredibly hard when youve grown accustomed to certain features or expectations, especially sudden change. It is always your choice if you decide to stay with us and continue utilize the support our community offers. If you do stay, please remember that staff, ambassadors, and volunteer leaders are all human and all deserve to be treated kindly. Just as the rooms, forums, and messaging on 7 Cups should be used with integrity and for emotional support. This is why we do what we do. If you need emotional support and agree to follow our community guidelines we welcome you with open arms. If you would like a chatroom environment free of rules and moderation there are plenty of websites that offer that ability. We will always be here for you if you decide you prefer inclusive, moderated, and safer rooms that are support focused.

If this is where you want to be and you are open to our attempts to increase safety while also surviving the challenges of a startup, then we have each others backs and will steer into problems together solving them one at a time. It isnt always easy but it is always meaningful work and that is what ultimately matters. Thank you for supporting our community team and rallying. We are all in this together.

Onward!!!

[Jill added link]

(Edited by Forum Mentor @Emily619 to fix a typo)