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About Us

  • Distress Centre Halton is a non-profit charitable organization that provides telephone support to people 365 days of the year. We are a unique service in that we train volunteers for front-line work providing emotional support and befriending to people in distress or crisis.

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  • Our service improves the health and wellness of people in our community and the quality of life of those who are feeling anxious, isolated, and vulnerable.

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  • Distress Centre Halton has a volunteer Board of Directors, 5 full-time staff and 5 part-time staff. We currently have approximately 325 volunteers supporting our community.

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Distress Line

The Distress Line is the core of our service offering. Our volunteers are trained to provide emotional support and encouragement, suicide risk assessment and prevention, as well as community resource and referral information.

TeleCheck

TeleCheck is our outbound program offering pre-scheduled telephone calls and friendly social connection to support the emotional and mental wellbeing of individuals in our community. TeleCheck is offered at no cost to individuals 18 years of age and older residing in the Halton Region and Hamilton Region.

Speaking Engagements

We’re available to speak with your club, class, or groups about the services provided by Distress Centre Halton, or to teach courses on active listening skills, de-escalation techniques, and mental health in general.

Our Services

Services

Our Team

Staff

Full-Time

Dara Eisner Clancy, Executive Director
Mark Howarth, Senior Manager, Operations
Kathleen Legaspi, BSW, RSW, Senior Manager, TeleCheck

Rachel Leslie, BSW, RSW, Manager, Volunteer Engagement & Communications

Trisha McCracken, Volunteer Coordinator

Part-Time

Samantha Brown, TeleCheck Coordinator

Rose Ford, Volunteer & Operations Administrator

Katica Juric, Call Feedback Coordinator

Mahein Kazi, Outreach Coordinator

Prabhleen Mangat, Call Feedback Coordinator

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And our 315+ trained volunteers.

Board

Gail Cartwright, Chair

Heather Eaton, Secretary

Richard Darjes, Treasurer

Rami Safi

Tegvir Singh Grewal

Feeroza Suchak

Linda Sukk

Jodi Weber

Diane Woodall​​

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Annual General Meeting Reports | AGM 2016/2017 | AGM 2017/2018 | AGM 2018/2019 AGM 2019/2020 | AGM 2020/2021 | AGM 2021/2022 | AGM 2022/2023 | AGM 2023/2024 | 2024/2025 Impact Report​​

Our Team

Our History

Distress Centre Halton was formed through the consolidation of three organizations, all of which originated in the 1970s – Distress Centre Oakville, Distress Centre North Halton, and Telecare Burlington. 

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What began with volunteers answering calls on Friday and Saturday nights grew as the community’s need for support increased. Today, our trained volunteers are here every day of the year, including holidays, providing a listening ear and guidance whenever it’s needed. In 2024/2025, we supported 36,561 connections across Halton and Hamilton.

Our History
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