OUR SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

CRISIS LINE PROGRAM

Telecare Distress Centre provides a twenty-four hour anonymous and confidential Crisis line service line for anyone who needs a compassionate and non-judgmental listening ear, emotional support or just having difficulty coping in life. Our crisis lines are open 24 hours of the day, 7 days of the week and 365 days of the year.

Some of the reason, people call us about are
LONELINESS AND ISOLATION
ABUSE
JOB LOSS
ANGER
GRIEF/BEREAVEMENT
DEPRESSION
ANXIETY
STRESS
ADDICTIONS
RELATIONSHIPS
SUICIDE
PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL HEALTH
MENTAL ILLNESS
COMING OUT ISSUES
SUICIDAL THOUGHTS

And many other problems, BIG or SMALL!
Our service is anonymous, confidential, easy to access, non-judgmental and totally free. Many people don't feel comfortable sharing sensitive, confidential issues with family and friends. At times they prefer to work through their options with an impartial listener. Some have nowhere else to turn. Please remember, that we are there for you.

Through the Crisis Line Program, Telecare Distress Centre aims to:

• minimize potential harm to all parties involved, using crisis intervention techniques
• encourage discussion on the level of feelings
• reduce isolation, where the extended family support network has been broken down
• make the appropriate community referral or contact help on resources available
• give ‘emotional first- aid’ to the caller
• empower callers to cope with specific aspects of  their lives
• let the caller know that there are people who care and want to listen

Target Population Served:

• Crisis calls: adolescence, adults, seniors, who can no longer cope with stress or difficult situations effectively.
• Listening and emotional support calls:  adults, seniors who call up the lines for social and emotional support for their general mental and physical well-being.
• The majority of our calls are from those who are dealing with mental and physical illnesses, social isolation, job loss, relationship problems, stress, grief, abuse etc

TRAINING PROGRAM

Telecare Distress Centre provides an intensive Training program to all its Crisis line volunteers.
The Training program prepares volunteers for crisis line work through:

• increasing volunteer knowledge and understanding of prevalent issues faced by many in our community, therefore developing greater social awareness
• improving active listening and interpersonal communication skills
• developing crisis intervention and suicide prevention skills
• educating our volunteer on culture competence and diversity
• developing patience and an empathetic approach to dealing with those in crisis
• increasing personal comfort levels when interacting with those in crisis
• keeping volunteers aware of current social trends, findings, theories, community needs and resources

Target Population Served by Training Program:
Adults living in Region of Peel who want to provide emotional support to other adults in our community. Average of 80 volunteers trained per year

The Training Program includes the following:

• 24 hours of In-class training, held five times per year for all volunteers serving on the distress line
• 16 hours of supervised On-line training for each volunteer serving on the distress line
• 10 hours of specialized In-service training, held annually to increase volunteer knowledge and refresh skills
  

REACHING OUT TO ALL GROUPS – (ROTAG)

As the Region of Peel continues to grow, the demand for agencies like Telecare Distress Centre to respond to the social and cultural needs of the diverse community becomes more crucial. To respond to the growing needs within the Region of Peel, we embarked on an expansion program to offer crisis intervention and emotional first-aid support to the LGBT community, ethno-specific and multi-lingual groups as well as to reach out to people with disabilities. Through this initiative, Telecare Distress Centre strives to create a socially inclusive and healthy society for one and all.

In 2005, we launched lines in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. In 2007, we will be reaching out to the Spanish and Portuguese communities. Over the next three years we will provide services in Mandarin, Arabic, French and Polish.

Languages to be offered besides English are:

PHONEFRIEND PROGRAM

In 1987, Telecare Distress Centre established PhoneFriend program for latchkey children in Brampton to address the concerns of school-age children going home to an empty house. This support line evolved over the years to provide a listening ear and assistance to children throughout the Region of Peel who were afraid, bored, stressed or just needed listening and emotional support.

However, in September 2005, the PhoneFriend program was phased out, allowing us to focus more on the multi-lingual crisis lines to adapt to the changing needs of the community.