HOW WE CAN HELP
HOW WE CAN HELP
CONTACT Listening Line
CONTACT of Mercer County, NJ is here for you and we care. If you are feeling lonely, isolated, navigating through a painful relationship or breakup, struggling at work, call us. We are here and ready to calmly and compassionately listen and care. Trained, nonjudgmental volunteers can help you gain clarity so that you can find your way forward.
You do not have to deal with your pain or your problems alone. Call to speak with one of our highly trained, compassionate listeners 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. 609.896.2120.
If you or someone you know is going through a crisis or thinking about suicide, call 988 anytime 24/7.
CHAT AND TEXT
You are not alone. Our Chat and Text is a place to talk about problems and stress that are difficult to talk about anywhere else. It is a place to find nonjudgmental support during a difficult time.
Several years ago crisis centers across the U.S. started noticing a decline in the number of calls from young people. In response, many started up crisis chat programs- to enable people to communicate with someone either by phone or chat. Today, CONTACT participates in crisis chats and texts as well as telephone hotline calls.
“Our chat visitors can be very young, like 11,” says CONTACT’s Executive Director Eleanor Letcher. “Probably 70% of our chat visitors are teens or in their early 20’s, although they are getting older because now more people are comfortable chatting or using technology. But at the beginning, almost all the people in the chat program were young.” Click here to chat now.
REASSURANCE PROGRAM
In 1978, CONTACT began offering its telephone Reassurance Program. It’s a free daily outreach service for senior citizens who live alone. Anyone 60 and older who lives in Mercer County can sign up for the free service.
The program is staffed by a separate group of volunteers from the hotline and crisis chat staff. Letcher says CONTACT volunteers currently call about 35 people every day, although they have the resources to call even more.
The calls are typically general wellness checks, although sometimes volunteers are able to determine that a client in the Reassurance Program is in distress. Over the years, volunteers have identified clients who have fallen or who have had a medical emergency, and have been able to get those people the help that they needed.
“Our volunteers have one or two clients, and they call them every day at the same time,” Letcher says. “It’s a few minutes of conversation, but it’s also a safety check.”
Call 609.737.2000 if you or someone you know would like to receive a friendly, person-to-person phone call each day or be a volunteer to contact others.
NJ211
If you are looking for information on specific programs or topics, email NJ211, and follow the NJ211 website for information and help on topics. Or, by telephone, dial 211 to speak to one of their counselors. This is a New Jersey statewide program, and it is offered free of charge. Most states have similar 211 services.
