The "California Peer Run Warm Line," a statewide mental health resource, is being forced to slash two-thirds of its workers amid budget cuts.

For CEO Mark Salazar, the Mental Health Association of San Francisco has always been a place people could turn to any time, day or night.

"We provides 24/7 emotional support to folks who prefer not to call 911," Salazar said.

But now, the nonprofit faces the same kind of uncertainty it has helped thousands of others through, day after day, year after year.

"We shouldn't be cutting back any type of services," Salazar said. "We should actually invest in more."

Starting this week, millions in lost state funding forced Salazar to begin laying off nearly 200 employees.

The bulk of the cuts are coming from the team that answered calls on the Warm Lin

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