Phone line answers the call for Suffering Seniors

By: Radhika Panjwani
Mississauga
Canada

For seniors who have been suffering abuse, help is just a phone call away. A confidential help line that's operated entirely by volunteers, most of whom are seniors themselves, was launched yesterday by the Distress Centre Peel and Family Services Peel (FSP).A team of trained senior volunteers will available to take calls daily from noon to 8 p.m, seven days a week. They are ready, willing and able to provide support to callers who have been abused and those who are feeling depressed, struggling to cope with with loneliness and isolation or even feeling suicidal. The volunteers can help callers obtain counselling services for themselves and for their caregivers who might be feeling burn-out.
The two agencies received
$67,000 from the United Way of Peel to get the emergency hotline up and running. Distress Centre employs volunteers of all ages, but this particular program will be manned by two dozen seniors, said Linda Gerger, executive director of Distress Centre of Peel.“Elder abuse is a very sensitive situation that has to be handled sensitively,” Gerger said. “Before this, we never had a place to refer the people, even when they called us to report abuse. That's why the Family Services Peel (participation) is so critical, because it is one thing for people to call, but we need a professional place to refer them.”There are over 115,000 seniors aged 65 and over living in Peel. An estimated 10 per cent of them experience some form of abuse. There has been no such dedicated program for seniors in Peel before this.“The nature of this partnership is that we built on strengths,” said Tom Triantafillou, director of resource development at Family Services of Peel. “We want to look at the picture holistically and address all of the issues involved in case of elder abuse.“And we do have an issue,” he continued. “By 2016, we're going to have significant percentage of population over 55 years of age and over 80 years of age. So it is necessary and vital we have programs for seniors.”

The helpline is open daily from noon until 8 p.m. Call 905-278-3141 .
Meanwhile, Distress Centre of Peel is looking for older adults to help with the program.
For more details contact 905-278-7055