Distress Centres at a Glance
24/7 Distress and Crisis Line
- Serves the GTA, 365 days a year
- For over 40 years has provided essential, life-sustaining emotional support to those in need
- Handles over 100,000 calls each year
- Provides high-risk crisis follow-up by telephone when requested
- Provides back-up and after-hours service for social service & mental health providers
Survivor Support Programme
- Provides supportive counseling for survivors — bereaved family and friends — of suicide, homicide and other forms of violent death
- Provides suicide and homicide survivor support groups
- Maintains Suicide Resource Centre
Toronto Emergency Medical Services Partnership — EMS Warm Transfer Line
- Provides support to high-risk callers to 911 while emergency help is dispatched
Community Outreach and Education
- Provides consultation and outreach to other organizations and service providers across the province
- Supports development of social programmes to meet community needs (e.g. Assaulted Women's Helpline)
- Presents workshops on suicide prevention, crisis intervention and other related subjects by request
- Provides consultation and education on sudden, violent death and grief support
- Participates in community events to build greater public awareness
- Provides comprehensive training in front-line emotional support, suicide prevention and crisis intervention
- Provides opportunities for skill development to community members
Special Services
- PAIRO Helpline provides 24/7 support to medical students and residents, as well as their family members
- Caller Reassurance Programme provides service to individuals in need of ongoing emotional support
City of Toronto Disaster Response Team
- Partner with City of Toronto, Department of Public Health, in disaster response planning
- Agency infrastructure and resources can be mobilized to provide support and information in the event of a city-wide disaster
- Member of Neighbourhood Crisis Response agency support network
Partnership with Provincial Distress and Crisis Line Services
- Supports province-wide initiatives and development of distress and crisis line services
- Provides support and consultation to provincial association of distress centres
