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Staff Story

Funding a Vital Role

“Connection and compassion can make a world of difference”

The opportunity to join Distress Centre Durham (DCD) as the new Volunteer Resource Associate is a dream come true for Valéry Brosseau. DCD embodies many things for her, including the hope that can grow from a single bouquet of flowers.

As a former helpline volunteer herself, Valéry's past experience has been valuable to the role. “I'm not shy to admit I was in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Lakeridge Health Oshawa in 2014. The aftermath of a suicide attempt left me in a coma for days. A DCD staff member came to visit me and brought me flowers.”

The helpline relies on specially trained volunteers who share a desire to make a difference in our community. The volunteers provide emotional support and encouragement, crisis management services, and emergency intervention to community members experiencing emotional distress. 

“I wish I knew about the helpline when I was in my darkest place,” Valéry explains. “Mental health recovery just isn’t linear."

As Valéry lay there, words like worthless, hopeless and useless kept running through her head. She thought that she would be seen as weak or broken.

“I was met with the opposite,” Valéry says. “I had found a tight-knit community of people who showed me genuine care, believed in me." 

While volunteering with DCD she quickly moved into leadership and mentoring roles and helped train new volunteers. She was inspired to give back to her community.

“DCD is small but mighty,” Valéry explains. “We are real, we are human, and we do our work with complete conviction that authentic connection and compassion can make a world of difference.”

The Volunteer Resource Associate role has been vacant over the past few years, which makes recruiting, training and scheduling volunteers difficult. Now with Valéry on board in her official capacity, there's opportunity to improve and maintain the service. 

“When the DCD helpline was covered at full capacity, there were approximately 8,000 incoming calls from community members each year,” explains Trina Bell, Program Manager, Distress Centre Durham. “We want to reassure the community that we are working hard to bring this incredibly important program back to capacity.”

DCD’s priority is to rebuild its roster of volunteers and ensure that people throughout Durham Region have access to the support they need.

“Valéry is currently reaching out to all existing DCD volunteers to re-establish commitment of volunteer hours and will be working with Lakeridge Health’s volunteer resources to recruit, train and mentor new volunteers,” says Trina. “The passion that she has for the program, the volunteers and the community of people that DCD supports is evident and contagious.”

A unique aspect of Valéry’s role is that it is funded by donor support.

Every year, DCD hosts the Suicide Awareness Walk on the Sunday before World Suicide Prevention Day. This year, the walk took place on September 8 at Cullen Park in Whitby. More than 200 walkers helped raise over $19,000 for mental health care in Durham Region.

This means donors have a direct impact on the care their friends and neighbours receive by ensuring the helpline volunteers have the resources and support they need.

“The fact that my position is funded by donors who truly believe in the work we do and support our Suicide Awareness Walk makes this opportunity even more meaningful,” explains Valéry. “After over a decade of volunteering with DCD, returning in a staff role is a dream.”

Donor support of Distress Centre Durham is enabling DCD to revitalize its volunteer services. If you’re interested in supporting Distress Centre Durham or other mental health services in our community, visit our donation page.

“We are immensely grateful to our community donors for making this possible,” shares Trina. “We know that Valéry’s role at DCD is vital for the sustainability of Distress Centre Durham. We’re excited to reconnect with our community.”