For more than 50 years, Distress Centre Halton (DCH) has been providing confidential, free support to individuals facing emotional stress, loneliness, and crisis.
As the need for connection grows, so too does demand for services. As of fall 2025, DCH support and crisis calls increased more than 40% monthly, with outbound support calls growing 20-35%.
“We often say ‘You can listen a person’s soul back into existence,’ because we know that if someone can speak their story, and know that another truly hears it, we are somehow healed by that,” said Dara Eisner Clancy, executive director.
DCH operates an inbound distress and crisis line, as well as an outbound scheduled check-in call service. More than 300 trained volunteers, spread across five generations, and speaking more than 38 languages, handle these calls after completing a comprehensive seven-week training program focused on active listening, de-escalation, and suicide prevention.
“The ability to connect to the stories of the callers and clients, hearing the relief at the end of a befriending call or talking with an unknown caller about one of the biggest changes in their life — this is why I listen,” shared a DCH volunteer.
Last fall, BCF provided a $10,000 grant from its Burlington Community Fund, a Cause Fund that supports local charitable grants. The funding was supported through BCF’s Mental Wellness Endowment Fund, which provides grants annually to strengthen mental health initiatives in the local community.
The grant will help DCH grow its capacity through the training and recruitment of more volunteers to ensure that there is always someone there to listen.