ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. – The phone rings shrilly. A staff member picks it up and there’s an outpouring from the woman on the other end.
“My husband threw me against the wall. He’s got the only keys to the car. Am I going crazy? Is this a normal relationship?”
In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, stress line workers hear those questions an average of nine times a month. They tell the callers it is the situation that is crazy.
Ken Imhoff, who heads the Saskatchewan line, told a recent Canadian Farm Women’s Network conference that domestic violence makes up some of the situations the lines deal with. But whatever the caller’s concern, everyone is treated the same.
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“Listening, believing and caring for the safety of the caller are the three main tasks of the counsellors on the line,” Imhoff said.
Imhoff said an informal survey of the three prairie stress lines shows similarity in the callers’ concerns.
Both men and women call
The calls tend to be evenly split between the two sexes in each province and the average caller is in his or her early forties. The peak times to call are influenced by advertising for the stress lines, weather and government programs, Imhoff said.
“There’s lots of overlap. It’s clear if the family has difficulties then there are financial problems. We get a lot of calls regarding intergenerational farm transfer issues.”
Imhoff said in two recent Saskatchewan surveys with 500 responses, at least 82 percent of the farmers said stress is not declining in the rural areas.
Stress lines under financial stress
While stress is continuing, the fate of the lines has been less sure, said Imhoff. Manitoba’s government decided last week to grant that province’s line $40,000 after a last-minute appeal. Without the provincial money, the 40 rural volunteers could not continue to answer the 48 calls a month. Private and corporate donations paid $39,000 to keep the line running in its first year.
Alberta’s line is staffed by one person out of the Unifarm office with $50,000 in private donations and provincial grants. The role is under review as the general farm organization undergoes change. The line handles about 10 calls a month.
Saskatchewan has provincial funding of $177,000 to pay 10 part-time, two casual and one co-ordinator for 110 calls a month. The funding is assured until 1997.
Since its inception, the role of the line has changed, Imhoff said. Initially it referred people to government services.
“Now broader mandates have developed to support and advocate for farmers and rural people in emotional or financial crisis.”
