For many years, the NEED Crisis and Information Line has helped residents of Victoria get through very troubling times.  In 2007 - 2008 alone, trained volunteers answered 12,000 calls for help.  A great many of these calls come from people who are concerned about substance use issues, either their own or someone else’s. Concerns about street drugs, alcohol use and gambling have doubled over the past few years.

Volunteers who answer the phones at the Crisis Line report some frustration about such calls.  While it is common to offer support and, in some cases, information about resources, no one really knows whether or not there is any follow-up after the call has come to an end.

A new partnership between the NEED Crisis Line and Umbrella is set to change that uncertainty.  Fully funded by the United Way of Greater Victoria, Help 2 You affords people with substance use concerns an opportunity to meet with an Umbrella outreach worker face-to face, within 24 hours of the initial call.  The project began in October 2008, and Umbrella’s ‘quick response’ seems to be meeting the needs of callers.