Suicide hotline handles calls of financially troubled

MEXICANS INTO A STATE OF EMOTIONAL CRISIS. SUICIDE CALLS ABOUT MONEY TROUBLES ARE ON THE RISE ...  More »

MEXICANS INTO A STATE OF EMOTIONAL CRISIS. SUICIDE CALLS ABOUT MONEY TROUBLES ARE ON THE RISE ACCORDING TO A CRISIS CENTER AT U-N-M. THE HOTLINE SAYS MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLING FOR HELP ARE BEING REFERRED BY THEIR BANKS. VALERIE CASTRO IS HERE WITH THE DETAILS ...VAL. THE AGORA CRISIS CENTER HANDLES ALL KINDS OF CALLS BUT THEY SAY LATELY MORE PEOPLE WHO CAN'T PAY RENT OR EVEN THEIR BILLS ARE CALLING -- DESPERATE FOR HELP. 'We don't have exact numbers for this but i cannot tell you the number of volunteers who are telling me i can't believe how many financial assistance calls we're getting, how many job loss calls we're getting.'IT'S NO SECRET THAT MONEY TROUBLES ARE A HUGE SOURCE OF STRESS BUT WITH THE SLOW ECONOMY AND MASSIVE LAYOFFS SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY JUST CAN'T COPE. THE AGORA CRISIS CENTER AT U-N-M SAYS BANKS ARE FINDING SOME OF THEIR CUSTOMERS READY TO TAKE DRASTIC STEPS BECAUSE OF THEIR FINANCIAL SITUATION. 'We're definitely seeing an increase in people being transferred from banks to us, sometimes in suicidal crisis and we really saved their lives in a time when they were just talking about how to pay their mortgage.''Some customers say that there's no hope or that they don't have the means in which to go forward and they're not sure what resources are available to them.' RUDY ESPINOZA IS HEAD OF SECURITY AT AN ALBUQUERQUE WELLS FARGO. HE SAYS CUSTOMERS JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO WHEN THEY CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET. 'When we get those types of calls we try to accommodate that, we also direct them to local authorities, we do welfare checks on customers that may intimate that they're wanting to hurt themselves and they have no hope and we want to make sure that our customers are doing well.' THE AGORA CENTER SAYS THEY'RE ALSO WORKING TO GET A HOTLINE RUNNING FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS. AS FOR THE BANKS -- WELLS FARGO SAYS THEY'VE ALWAYS KEPT PROCEDURES FOR HOW TO DEAL WITH EMOTIONALLY DISTRAUGHT CUSTOMERS.// THE AGORA CRISIS CENTER ENCOURAGES ANYONE WHO'S HAVING A HARD TIME DEALING WITH ECONOMY -- OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER -- TO CALL THEIR HOTLINE. YOU CAN REACH THE CENTER AT 1- 866-HELP-1-NM. OR YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION BY VISITING K-O-B-  « Less