Monthly Archives: January 2018

Crisis Centres

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If you need help in an emergency or are in crisis:

  •   Visit your local emergency department or call 911
  •   Call or text 988
  •   Contact a distress centre in Ontario near you (phone numbers provided below)

Support is available. You are valued and you matter. Please reach out.

Distress lines

Operated by various agencies.  When in need of someone to talk to. Open 24 hours a day (unless otherwise indicated).

Toronto Distress Centres (416) 408-4357 or 408-HELP

Gerstein Centre 416-929-5200

Telecare (Mandarin & Cantonese), 416-920-0497

Contact Centre Telecare Peel 905-459-7777, Languages: English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Portuguese

Assaulted Women’s Helpline 416-863-0511, Toll-free: 1-866-863-0511 TTY 1-866-863-7868

Warm Line, Progress Place 416-960-9276 or 416-960-WARM, every day from 8pm to 12 midnight

Kids Help Phone at 1 800 668-6868

Distress Centre Peel 905-278-7208

Mobile Crisis of Peel 905-278-9036

Durham Crisis Line 905-666-0483

Oakville Distress Centre – 905-849-4541

Burlington Distress Centre – 905-681-1488

Milton/Halton Hills Distress Centre – 905-877-1121

Trans Life Line: 877-330-6366

LGBTQ+ Youthline: 1-800- 268-9688

Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse:1-866-887-0015

Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape: 416-597-8808

Connex Addiction / Mental Health / Gambling:1-866-531-2600

Good2Talk Post-Secondary Line: 1-866-925-5454

Talk 4 Healing for Indigenous women: 1-855-554-HEAL 

Anishnawbe Health 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Management Service: 1-855-242-3310

Black Youth Helpline: 416-285-9944

Youthdale Crisis Support Team: 416-363-9990

 

Crisis addiction services

Toronto Withdrawal Management System

1-866-366-9513 Hours: 24/7, 365 days a year. Central Access is a primary point of entry into the Toronto Withdrawal Management Services system referral system (operated by St. Michael’s Hospital)

 

Mobile crisis response teams (24hrs/7days)

Toronto:

North York/ Etobicoke:

Scarborough/East York:

York Region:

Peel Region:

Hamilton:

Durham:

Halton:

Peterborough:

Scarborough:

Dual Diagnosis crisis services

Peel Crisis Capacity Network 905 273-4900 https://peel.cioc.ca/record/CMH0190
Provides crisis response services within 24 hours to individuals with a developmental disability (including dual diagnosis) who are 11 years of age or older.

 

Crisis teams that will come out to meet you

  • St. Joe’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Team – Phone: 416-530-6486, ext. 4423 *voicemail only
  • Youthdale Psychiatric Crisis Services – (416) 363-9990
  • Gerstein Centre Mobile Crisis unit – 416-929-5200
  • Etobicoke Mobile Crisis team – 416-498-0043

 

Online supports:

Specialized Resources

  • Multilingual Distress Line: Provides emotional support, crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention & postvention in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EST.  For at risk and vulnerable individuals in Peel Region.

    Phone: 905-459-7777

  • Trans Lifeline: Provides peer support by trans people for trans and questioning callers. Crisis and other supports and resources are provided in both English and Spanish from 10:00 am to 4:00 am EST.

    Phone: 1-877-330-6366

  • LGBT YouthLine: Provides peer support by and for 2SLGBTQ+ people 29 and under across Ontario.  Trained peer support volunteers with a diversity of 2SLGBTQ+ identities provide a range of supports, including: questioning gender identity/sexual orientation; coming out; mental health; relationships; social isolation; and referrals to further supports. Phone, text and chat is available from Sunday to Friday, 4:00 pm to 9:30 pm EST. This is not a crisis line. Those in immediate crisis will be referred to their local distress centre, Kids Help Phone or Trans Lifeline. Please note that the phone line is currently unavailable, but text and chat support remain available. Check youthline.ca for updates.

    Text: 647-694-4275, Chat: youthline.ca, Phone: 1-800-268-9688

  • Naseeha: An international hotline that provides youth and particularly Muslim youth with the tools needed to address a range of issues including mental health, drugs and alcohol, bullying, religion, marriage and divorce, domestic issues, pornography, and career or work related issues.  Peer-counsellors provide immediate, anonymous, and confidential support over the phone from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm, 7 days a week and text support from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

    Phone: 1-866-627-3342 (NASEEHA), Text: 1 (866) 627-3342 (NASEEHA)

  • Black Youth Helpline: This multicultural youth helpline and service serves all youth and specifically responds to the needs of Black youth.  Contact with the helpline results in a professional, culturally relevant assessment aimed at identifying root causes of problems and informs next steps.  The helpline can be accessed by youth, families, schools and other stakeholders. Service is provided in English. French and other languages available upon request. Other languages are available upon request. This is not a crisis line.  The helpline is open from 9am to 10pm, 7 days a week. Clients can also submit service requests 24 hours a day using the ‘contact us form’ on the website blackyouth.ca.

    Toronto phone: 416-285-9944, National phone: 1-833-294-8650, Email: info@blackyouth.ca

  • Toronto Seniors Helpline/ Woodgreen Crisis Outreach Services for Seniors: The helpline provides information about home care and community care, and offers over-the-phone supportive counselling, de-escalation, and safety planning to seniors in emotional distress or crisis from 9:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday and 10:00am to 6:00pm on weekends. The helpline can connect callers to Woodgreen’s mobile crisis intervention and outreach service for adults 65+ with dementia, addictions or mental illness who need temporary, short-term support. The mobile service is staffed by crisis workers who can provide in-person assessment, crisis counselling, short-term intensive case management, harm reduction and concurrent disorder services, mental health and addictions support and referrals to other services. The mobile crisis team is available 365 days a year from 9:00am-5:00pm.

    Phone: 416-217-2077

  • Talk 4 Healing: Provides support and resources for Indigenous women, by Indigenous women, across Ontario, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Services are grounded in Indigenous culture, wisdom and tradition and are available in Oji-Cree, Ojibway, Cree, Algonquin, Inuktitut, Mohawk, Oneida, Odawa, Potawatomi, Micmac, Black Foot, Anishinaabe, Moose Cree, Swampy Cree and English and French

    Phone: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325), Text: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325), Chat: talk4healing.com, Visit Talk4Healing on Facebook & Twitter

  • National Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: This national service provides support to former Residential School students in crisis 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Support is provided by trained crisis counsellors, many of whom are Indigenous.

    Phone: 1-866-925-4419

  • Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape: Provides private and confidential crisis intervention and support services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to: anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or experienced physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, ritual or financial abuse; anyone who has had unwanted sexual touching; incest survivors; survivors of childhood and adult sexual assault and family and/or friends. Referrals can be made to other services.

    Phone: 416-597-8808

  • Assaulted Women’s Helpline: Provides anonymous and confidential crisis counselling, safety planning, emotional support, information and referrals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all women in Ontario who have experienced any form of abuse. Services are also available at all times for women who are deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing.

    Phone: 1-866-863-0511, TTY: 1-866-863-7868

  • Victim Services Toronto: The Victim Crisis Response Program provides immediate on-scene crisis response, intervention, and prevention services to victims, survivors, family members and witnesses of crime and sudden tragedies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also provides follow-up referrals to a wide range of programs, services and counselling. The Crisis Response team pairs a Crisis Counsellor with expertise in trauma management and crisis intervention with a trained volunteer. The Crisis Response Program is reflective of the diverse communities in Toronto and provides services in over 35 languages. Please note that some of these services have been modified during COVID-19.

    Phone: 416-808-7066

  • Warden Woods Community Centre COVID-19 All-in-One Support line: Provides complete support in one place for anyone in need, Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Services include crisis support, mental health support, harm reduction, homelessness prevention, eviction prevention, LGBTQ+ support, seniors support, conflict resolution, homework help, food safety and access to government support.

    Phone: 647-327-0206, Email: Supportline@wardenwoods.com

 

New Year 2018

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2017 ended with what felt like gale force winds and stormy skies. It was an interesting year for sure. It showered me with a few blessings, a new place, a new full-time job in a career I thoroughly enjoy, a teenager…
 
And it was wrought with pain and hurt, filled with challenge after challenge that tested my strength on every level. The challenges got worse as the year progressed. Physical and mental health challenges, relationship challenges, that teenager… oh what a challenge that one!! Ending…literally days before Christmas… with the closure of my workplace that had felt like home and the loss of that full-time job that had allowed me the shifts that I had made in my life this year.
 
And the weight of the last few months was almost unbearable. I felt myself suffocating, drowning, barely clinging on… almost ready to quit it all.
 
And so I did what I do when the world starts to spin out of control. I withdrew from the chaos and found the eye in the storm, that quiet place within, from which I watch my life and anchor down the things that are spinning out of control.
 
I took stock of my strengths and reminded myself of who I am.
I replayed the mistakes I made and took notes so I can learn from them and not repeat them.
I flexed my emotional and mental muscles so I don’t get crushed by the weight of those painful emotions and negative thoughts.
 
I am not the storm.
I am not the chaos.
I am not the pain.
 
I am stronger and bigger than all of it. And I am more than capable of overcoming these challenges. Because I never give up. And I will never surrender. I will be the change I want to see.
 
Nothing worth having comes easy, and I have always fought to create the things I want in life. I have learned that the things that I want are worth the effort. And so I begin 2018… a little banged up, a little bruised… but stronger, wiser and more self-aware than I was last year. More determined to chase away the demons that plague me and more solid in my resolve to strengthen myself so that I can weather any storm heading my way.
 
For they will come.
 
And I will be ready.
 
Happy new year.
May we all find the courage to face our demons and the strength to weather the storms that are coming.