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HelpLine Closing from November 6 to November 13

Posted on October 25, 2022

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LGBT YouthLine closing HelpLine for one week to rest
Closing November 6th and re-opening November 14th 

 

On March 17th 2020, following the government closure, we made the decision to leave our offices and closed the lines. On March 18th 2020 we re-opened remotely, and our dedicated staff and volunteers have kept the lines open ever since. During a time when many programs and services shut down indefinitely and isolation was at its worst for 2SLGBTQ+ youth, we knew our HelpLine was needed more than ever. Our volunteers and staff have been working non-stop over the past two years, and it is now time for us to take a break.  

 

LGBT YouthLine and the HelpLine in particular have navigated enormous changes in the past two years. We built remote infrastructure for our HelpLine, and opened our volunteer program to youth across the province. Our staffing structure has rapidly shifted and grown to keep up with changing needs during the pandemic. All of these changes, while exciting, have also led to us having less time to breathe and process what have been a very challenging two years. Given this, we have carefully selected a quiet time to close the lines. From Sunday, November 6 to Sunday, November 13, LGBT YouthLine will close its HelpLine to give staff and volunteers a break from frontline work.
During this time, the HelpLine staff team will be connecting to rest, vision, and refocus our work so that we can come back to the lines refreshed and energized to continue supporting youth across Ontario in the best way possible. Staff members on the HelpLine team will not be responding to emails or phone calls during this week, but all other programs and YouthLine staff will continue to work as usual.  

 

We know this pause in our service may be challenging for the many 2SLGBTQ+ youth who rely on us. We encourage you to reach out directly to us to make a support plan for when we are closed – our volunteers would be happy to brainstorm with you! We also want to share the following resources that you can turn to:
 

 

Our HelpLine will reopen to its regular hours on Monday, November 14. 

 

If you have any questions about this closure, please reach out to Minna Frederick, Peer Support Manager, at MinnaF@youthline.ca 


 

About LGBT YouthLine: LGBT YouthLine is a 2SLGBTQ+ youth-led organization that affirms and supports the experiences of youth (29 and under) across Ontario. We do this by: 

At YouthLine, all our volunteers are trained peer supporters ages 16-29 with a diversity of 2SLGBTQ+ identities and lived experiences. We serve all of Ontario. We are currently taking texts, chats, and email from 4pm-9:30pm EST every day except Saturday. We are taking phone calls only on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 4PM-9:30PM EST.