Guest Author: Lisa Wilder My name is Lisa, and I started my journey with Distress Centre Calgary in mid-September as an online services volunteer. I have what I call a “wondering mind.” Although this can take me off on all sorts of tangents, it should not be confused with a “wandering mind.” It is much different....
Content Warning: mention of suicide Ahsan has been volunteering with Distress Centre and our ConnecTeen youth program since 2015 but he still remembers the call that changed the way he handles crisis calls. Ahsan answered a call from someone who told him they were having thoughts of suicide, they had a plan to attempt suicide and they...
Meet Adrian: Canada Suicide Prevention Service Training and Recruitment Coordinator at Distress Centre. Canada Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS) is a national network of existing distress, crisis and suicide prevention line services. Distress Centre Calgary is part of that network and volunteers and staff answer calls and texts from people across Canada in need of support. Adrian...
For anyone thinking of volunteering with Distress Centre, Anika has this advice: “Go for it!” And: “It’s not as scary as you think.” When a call, chat or text is received by Distress Centre or ConnecTeen, DC’s youth crisis support service, it’s true that the volunteer doesn’t know what the subject will be and that can feel...
2021 was another challenging but exciting year for Distress Centre Calgary. Though we faced, and continue to contend with, the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we also experienced growth, transformation and were able to celebrate some substantial achievements. As we move forward into a new year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect...
Crisis line volunteer, Mortaza, is no stranger to giving back to the community. Before joining Distress Centre in the summer of 2020, he already held a wide range of volunteer roles, including: youth soccer coach, patient ambassador and mealtime volunteer at the University of Alberta hospital, and classroom volunteer at an elementary school. Mortaza was seeking...
When you become a remote Online Services Crisis Line volunteer for Distress Centre, you get to make a difference in the lives of others, from the comfort of your home! Online Services volunteers provide crisis support through online chat and email to anyone who contacts Distress Centre seeking help. Not everyone is comfortable talking on the...
Crisis line volunteer Elissa* is no stranger to dealing with life’s hardships. She endured years of struggle and overcame many challenges before finding her way to Distress Centre, and she said that she’s been able to leverage the lessons she’s learned in her personal life to better support Distress Centre’s service users. Elissa worked as a...
Mark Li began his volunteering journey at Distress Centre in October 2020, when he made a strong first impression on our Training Coordinator, Trevor. “Mark shocked me when I asked a question to the training group and he pulled out a colour coded binder with the answers to my questions,” said Trevor, who is also Mark's...
“Being part of Distress Centre has enriched me as a person and a social worker. It has given me the tools to better understand and apply these tools to crisis intervention. As a human it has opened my eyes to a world of mental health struggles and humbled me. I feel I can better empathize,...
