ABSTRACT
Number Nine was created in October 1969 as a service to young people in crisis. This chapter discusses several themes in Number Nine's development, not because we have solved any basic dilemmas, but because our struggles highlight some of the concrete issues that arise when the attempt is made to apply radical approaches to personal growth as a service to a specific community. Although an institution and an organization, Number Nine tends to think of itself as a community. This feeling is in line with the counter-cultural assumption that working and living should not be separated and that people should be open and intimate in work relationships. In a political sense, that if a community such as Number Nine can survive and grow, it will pose a constructive threat to educational and social service institutions. Number Nine was founded as a hotline and crisis center, staffed mainly by high school and college students and dropouts.
