In Calgary, approximately 180 vulnerable seniors are reported missing each year. These incidents place a tremendous toll on family members, friends, and neighbours of the missing person, and often require the involvement of costly emergency services to search. Silver Alert systems engage the community in locating missing older people who have cognitive challenges. During Seniors’ Week...
Distress Centre Calgary’s 2017 Annual Report Findings Released (CALGARY, AB) –Distress Centre Calgary (DCC) has just released their 2017 Report to Community. Findings from this report indicate that the demands for Distress Centre services continues its rise year-over-year. Crisis contacts made to the centre (crisis calls, chats, emails and texts) increased by 19.2% and 27.4% in 2017,...
We are all connected. Today, our world is more connected than ever by things like social media, text and chat. Yet with all this digital connection, we lose human contact—seeing words and images on a screen instead of the people behind them. We consume faster, compare ourselves to other people’s “highlight reels” and become increasingly detached...
We are pleased to announce that a recent social return on investment case study has shown that every dollar invested into Distress Centre creates a minimum of $7.42 in value for stakeholders impacted by the work of our 24/7 crisis program. What is an SROI? An SROI seeks to illustrate the value of outcomes experienced by...
When Kate Billett was 16-years-old she made a decision to pursue social work. “I wanted a career where I could help people,” says Kate. “I developed a passion for crisis line work and mental health, so that’s what ultimately drove me into social work.” Originally, Kate thought she wanted to be a teacher, but her high...
This week is National Volunteer Week, a week to show appreciation for the hundreds of volunteers who we rely on to provide crisis support by phone, chat, text and email. We pride ourselves on the value of our volunteer program. Volunteers invest their time in Distress Centre, and in turn, we invest in them. 99% of...
A few months ago, Peter Oxland, a crisis line volunteer at Distress Centre Calgary, answered a call at 2:30am and heard a faint whisper on the other end of the line. “The young girl eventually shared that she had had Distress Centre’s telephone number for nine months and had finally got the courage to call,” Peter...
On Sunday, February 18, 2018, the Calgary Hitmen faced the Saskatoon Blades at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Hitmen unfortunately lost 1-5 against the Blades, but thousands of fans still enjoyed a great game and had a chance to learn about Calgary’s youth peer support service, ConnecTeen. ConnecTeen provides confidential peer support to Calgary teens by phone,...
Calgary, February 11, 2018 - 211 Alberta, the number to call to connect to government, community, health and social services, has released its 2017 statistics. The numbers show that 92,165 calls for non-emergency help were answered by 211 across the province and its website received 37,954 visits. February 11th is 211 Day across North America. The...
We know reaching out to a crisis line takes a great deal of courage. That courage comes from admitting and accepting the fact you need help, and that you are willing to take that first step. It also comes from fearing the unknown. You might ask, “What happens when I contact a crisis line? Who...
