By Maria Doty

Sponsored Content By VI Crisis Society

5 Facts About the Vancouver Island Crisis Society

Nov 10, 2020 | 10:50 AM

NANAIMO – The Vancouver Island Crisis Society (VICS) is an Island Health contracted service providing 24/7 Vancouver Island Crisis Line Support. The Crisis Society also provides a variety of community support services to accommodate Vancouver Island’s growing population and growing need for crisis support, suicide bereavement support, community education, and school programs.

1. They’re 50 Years Old

The Vancouver Island Crisis Society is now in its 50^th year of operation and its 50^th year of “helping people find their way.” Originally known as the Nanaimo Crisis Centre, it began as a small, volunteer-run Crisis Line. Now, in addition to the Vancouver Island Crisis Line, Crisis Chat and Crisis Text services are available seven days a week.

VICS has also partnered in answering two provincial networks: 310Mental Health Support and 1800SUICIDE. They’ve also partnered in taking voice and text interactions for the national Canada Suicide Prevention Service. VICS can expand and maintain its operations thanks to generous donations and funding from Island Health and others.

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2. They Operate with Volunteers and Staff

VICS operates as a hybrid model of both paid staff and volunteers. Volunteers have always been and will continue to be paramount to the success and the consistency of the Crisis Society.

Not only is volunteering with the VICS a tremendous way to give back to the community; but the education provided in training can propel individuals into many different careers and can lead to internal employment at the VICS as well.

3. They Interact with Our Community—a lot

The VICS is busy. In the last fiscal year, they took 39,202 interactions. This includes interactions taken from their local Vancouver Island Crisis Line, Crisis Chat and Crisis Text, two provincial networks (310Mental Health Support and 1800SUICIDE), and the national Canada Suicide Prevention Service.

Services continue to be offered 24/7, except for Crisis Chat and Crisis Text, which are offered nightly from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

4. They Provide Suicide Bereavement Support

The Vancouver Island Crisis Society provides Suicide Bereavement Support Services to Vancouver Island survivors of suicide loss via Zoom and phone support.

They offer a two-tiered, flexible support system that considers that longer-term help is beneficial to the healing process. Available support includes a monthly online Suicide Bereavement Support Group and ongoing individual support calls and meetings.

5. They Offer School and Community Education Programs

VICS offers a variety of school and community education programs covering topics such as crisis intervention, suicide awareness, and mental health support.

Most recently, the Crisis Society has adapted community support services and education programs to enable online learning to accommodate social distancing with respect to COVID-19. Their youth mental health education program, COPE (Communication, Options, Perspective, Enjoy Life) is now available fully online for educators and parents to partake in with youth.

The Vancouver Island Crisis Society’s board, volunteers, and staff are grateful to be able to support communities across Vancouver Island. VICS strives to continue to grow and adapt to aid and empower those in need of support.

For further information about their services, please visit www.vicrisis.ca or email info@vicrisis.ca.