PORTLAND, Maine — Mary Beth Moriarty called police to her apartment in June 2018.
"I came back from work. It was a Friday, and I was getting ready for a date with my boyfriend," Moriarty said.
But her excitement soon turned to horror when Moriarty noticed a light was on in her roommate's bedroom and went to shut it off.
"I see her phone on the bed, and I thought, 'That's weird -- she's not home. Why would her phone be here?' Then I scan the room and see her kit, and then I see her dead."
Moriarty's roommate died from an overdose -- her drug kit next to her body.
When police arrived, they called the Trauma Intervention Program or TIP, a group of highly trained volunteers who provide emotional and practical support to survivors of traumatic events and their families.
"It was crazy, how many emergency workers, cops were there. Detectives, people taking pictures. It was a zoo," recalled Moriarty.
And in all the chaos, there was Moriarty, struggling with all kinds of emotions.
"Guilt -- I should have helped. Betrayal -- how did I not know? Scared -- I felt sad for her family. I was dealing with this all at once."
And then Margaret Nareff walked into Moriarty's life.
"I remember seeing someone, who in a metaphorical sense, was in lots of pieces. She was terrified. She was fragile. She was dealing with a lot of authorities in her home," Nareff said.
Nareff is a TIP volunteer -- highly trained and on call and ready to respond when someone's life has just been ripped out from underneath them.
"It's not our job to take care of anybody. It's not our job to be grief counselors. It's just to be there in those moments when the most unimaginable has happened," Nareff said.
"She gave me water and tissues, and she was just there for me and me only. She was my advocate," Moriarty remembered.
Nareff says TIP volunteers are, simply put, strangers helping strangers.
"There are a lot of things that separate us, but grief is universal. Tragedy is universal. Everybody needs some kind of support and care when they're facing the worse day of their life."
"She was the calm in the storm. She was the lighthouse on the rocky coast during a storm," Moriarty said of Nareff.
A storm Moriarty was glad she didn't have to weather alone.
"It would have been me in a snow globe -- someone just shaking it."
Moriarty is now doing great, and these two women, who might never have met otherwise, will always be connected because of the TIP Program and the kindness of a stranger.
Volunteers are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
TIP, which is a program of Maine Behavioral HealthCare, is currently recruiting volunteers for its spring training class, which starts Thursday, April 25.
If you're interested in learning more, you can contact TIP Program Manager Leslie Skillin at 207-661-6478 or skill@mainebehavioralhealthcare.org.