Text crisis service now offered in Niagara
A new crisis service is available to aid Niagara residents in despair reach out for help.
Distress Centre Niagara has teamed up with Distress and Crisis Ontario-member agencies in Durham and Windsor to expand a text crisis service into the region.
People can text the word SUPPORT to 258258 for crisis responders who can provide emotional support, referrals to other community services and crisis intervention.
The program, called ONTX, also allows people to chat with trained service responders by visiting the dcontario.org/ ontx.html website. Telephone support will continue to be provided in Niagara by calling 905688-3711, 905-382-0689, 905-5636674 or 905-734-1212.
Distress Centre Niagara has been facing an increasing and overwhelming call volume, with its 75 volunteers receiving more than 15,000 calls per year, leading to busy signals when people have tried to call.
Centre executive director Stacy Terry has said it needs about 200 volunteers to answer phones.
The ONTX crisis text service, too, has had an overwhelming demand since it was introduced in other jurisdictions as a pilot project in June 2015.
In the years since, use of the service has more than tripled, with 20,467 people accessing the service last year, receiving 10,115 hours of support from 246 responders.
In a media release, Distress and Crisis Ontario executive director Neta Gear said organizations across the province “are committed to increasing our efforts to support the growing numbers of individuals reaching out to our centres, through the ONTX services.”
“We only expect these numbers to grow,” she added.