WINNIPEG – A crisis line for rural Manitobans is feeling some stress of its own. After just seven months of answering calls for help, co-ordinators don’t know if the line will have enough money to make it through the year.
“I think it’s really dicey,” said Christine Kreklewetz, who runs the program with Brenda Alderson.
They’re optimistic that supporters who are busy selling $2 raffle tickets will raise enough money to keep the 800-line open for this year.
But they said the provincial health department needs to commit at least $40,000 to the project for next year. And so far, it hasn’t.
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Kreklewetz and Alderson share the only paid position at the line. They co-ordinate a team of about 35 rural volunteers who answer calls from their homes.
Each volunteer receives more than 50 hours of training. Add costs for promoting the new line, along with long distance charges, and the line’s budget is $141,000.
This year, government grants from the health department and a federal-provincial government organization totalled only $65,000. Corporate sponsors added another $22,000, while rural municipalities, organizations and individuals gave about $10,000.
Rural people can relate
Kreklewetz said long distance charges could be reduced if volunteers were all based in one area. But she said the line is set up to have the highest possible quality of peer counselling, and that means having rural people answering the phone.
Last month, about 80 people called the line because of farm financial stress, family problems, isolation and loneliness. Kreklewetz said some callers have talked about suicide.
“If rural people believe in this program, we really hope that they’ll articulate that in some way,” Kreklewetz said.
A health clinic in Winnipeg that provides a crisis line for urban callers receives more than $440,000 a year from the provincial government. Alderson also said a similar stress line in Saskatchewan is completely funded by the provincial government there.
