Guest Post: Simryn Thind Mental health is often a topic that is neglected or not prioritized, when it should in fact, be at the top of our list in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In our society many hold stigmas around mental illness. This is especially true for middle-aged men who are in fear of...
Every second counts when you're in crisis. That's why we're always here to listen. In 2019, we received more suicide-related contacts than ever. [edgtf_button size="" type="" text="See our 2019 Report to the Community" custom_class="" icon_pack="font_awesome" fa_icon="" link="https://2019.distresscentrear.com/" target="_blank" color="" hover_color="" background_color="" hover_background_color="" border_color="" hover_border_color="" font_size="" font_weight="" margin=""]...
Read - 50 Stories Part 17 With its roots as a Drug Information Centre, Distress Centre has always had addiction support as a mandate. In September of 1990, as part of the desired expansion of services, there was a return to the use of young recovering addicts via the start-up of a new Youth Drug Line...
CALGARY – Distress Centre Calgary is reporting a rising number of crisis contacts related to COVID-19, a caseload that is expected to continue growing over the coming months and even years as the pandemic, and its long-term effects, continue to impact Albertans. The Centre received its first COVID-19 related call on January 26, and as of April 28 received over 37,000 contacts on its 24 hour 211 and crisis lines, daily...
Read - 50 Stories Part 16 Happy Anniversary! Twenty years after its beginnings as the Drug Information Centre, Calgary Mayor Al Duerr proclaimed Distress Centre/Drug Centre week, March 18-24, 1990. Jeanette commented on various highlights over time. After 20 years, staff with higher qualifications were being hired, responding to much broader crises concerns, and offering a more...
See this update as a video! This is not the quarterly update I planned on writing. When I thought of looking back on the first quarter of 2020, I wanted to tell you that our team had successfully moved 115 staff and 200+ volunteers from 1010 8th Avenue to 999 8th Street SW. I wanted to...
Image: Dakota Douglas, Crisis Team Lead, working remotely from home. As the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic became undeniable in March, the Distress Centre leadership team and Board had a decision to make. For the safety and health of our volunteers and staff, we decided to completely close our office on March 17th, 2020. Behind the scenes,...
Read - 50 Stories Part 15 Counselling continued to be a key aspect of the Distress Centre/Drug Centre services. At the 10th anniversary reception, Jeanette noted that there were 1000 counselling and referral calls coming in a month, along with 65 drop-ins. On-site counselling had increased 32% over 1979. The Centre was still the only agency...
Our office remains closed but all of our services are still available by phone or online, including our crisis line, online chat, ConnecTeen, 211 and counselling services. We are continuing to put measures in place to ensure that continuous crisis and 211 support is available in the coming weeks and months so that we can...
Image: Volunteer in a 1982 newspaper. Read - 50 Stories Part 14 During the 80s, The Board of Directors was able to move slowly towards more of a governance-only role. Funding and fundraising were the exceptions; that remained hands-on. As noted in the 1981 Annual Report: “Financial management for the coming year will be a major challenge...
