‘ meneame overran ete ee VERDE! CRATE . a 35 - Sunday, July 16, 1989 ~ North Shore News tee ese tea’ . Once is noz enough PAGE 37 HELPLINE OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY Workers field crisis calls over the phone THE RENT is due but your ex-spnuse isn’t paying child support so all your money has gene to buy groceries. Your child is screaming in her crib but you’re so tired you hardly have the energy to pick her up to comfort her. When the stress becomes overwhelming, where do you turn for help? If you’re like many other peo- ple, you telephone the Crisis Cen- tre, which, although based in Van- couver, serves the people of the North Shore, Burnaby and Van- couver City 24 hours a day, every day of the year. According te North Vancouver’s Carol Lowe, one of the five paid staff members at the Centre, peo- ple in distress telephone for a wide variety of reasons. By PEGGY TRENDELL-WHITTAKER News Reporter their own decisions, not to offer quick solutions. While manning the phone lines can often be a stressful responsibil- ity, the service is obviously needed — the centre receives 18,000 calls annually — and brings its own reward. “I enjoy being there for people BENEFIT CONCERT TO AID CENTRE: SEE STORY PAGE 24 “You name it,’’ she said. “Therve’s probably nothing that we haven’t handled on the lines.” While approximately 10 per cent of the callers are potential suicide victims, the majority are simply suffering from a range of ali-too- human psychic maladies: loneliness, depression, «anger or any number of other emotions tied to issues currently active in their lives. If they’re phoning for advice, however, they wili find they’ve phoned the wrong place. Phone line volunteers, who undergo 50 hours of training prior to starting their phone work, are taught to help the callers make ORDER NOW! SALE ENDS JULY 31! | when they need me,"’ says Rick Poltaruk, one of the approximate- ly 100 individuals who give their time at the Crisis Centre. Volunteers do 24-hour crisis counselling, assist with suicide prevention education at local high schools and help with the office work. The Crisis Centre, which cele- brates its 20th anniversary this year, was started by ‘‘a fairly small and very committed group of indi- viduals,’’ says Lowe. Now funded by the United Way, the Ministry of Social Services and See Performance Page 37 =a. ee 7 ra NEWS photo Wilke Wakefield THE CRISIS Centre serves the people of the North Shore, Burnaby and Vancouver City 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The telephone lines arc staffed by a team of trained volunteers, who also help with office work and community education. Crisis Cenire volunteer and singer/songwriter Rick Poltaruk (above) is performing a benefit concert for the centre at the Centennial Theeire on Thursday, July 20. For information about the con- cert, see page 24. BRING IN YOUR OLD PILLOW & | | RECEIVE | | Towards the regular purchase price of a - Northern Feather ‘Little Mermaid’ 2 down, ‘1/2 feather queen size pil-. low or 20% OFF the purchase price of any other Northern feather pillow. : (offer good until July 31st/89) : . WW 'N UNDER 2014 Park Royal South = § West Vancouver ; yd 926-2821 my 2325 West 4th Ave. Vancouver 736-1828