Vancouver Island Crisis Society

 

About Us

The Vancouver Island Crisis Society is contracted by Island Health to provide the Vancouver Island Crisis Line service to the entire island, the islands of the Georgia Strait, and the mainland communities between Powell River and Rivers Inlet. We work in partnership with Island Health to provide public access to Mental Health and Substance Use services in the communities administered by Island Health.
We are a registered non-profit agency whose services include 24-hour crisis lines, as well as crisis chat and crisis text services, through which we provide short-term nonjudgemental support, crisis intervention, information, and resources; regional support of Suicide Bereavement Support Group meetings; training in schools with youth, teachers, counsellors, and parents; and various workshops and customized training addressing suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and communication skills for individuals and agencies throughout our communities.

 

Programs  

Our crisis services provide emotional support, crisis intervention, access to community resources and suicide prevention services.

  • Vancouver Island Crisis Line:  1-888-494-3888, available 24/7
    As an Island Health-contracted service, the Crisis Line provides public access to Mental Health and Substance Use services in the communities administered by Island Health.
  • Crisis Chat: www.vicrisis.ca daily from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Pacific Time
  • Crisis Text: 250-800-3806 daily from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Pacific Time

The Vancouver Island Crisis Society facilitates community education programs throughout Vancouver Island communities. These include ASIST (LivingWorks' Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), safeTALK (also developed by LivingWorks) and the Crisis Society's own CIST (Crisis Intervention Skills Training), as well as Communication in the Workplace and customized training. The Crisis Society facilitates extensively to elementary, middle, and high school students. It has developed three programs: the 12-hour GRASP gateway program (Growth, Resilience, Acknowledgement, Suicide Awareness, Prevention and Personal Planning), the 4-hour COPE program (Communication, Options, Perspective, and Enjoy Life), and Speak Out Reach Out Help Out, an accurately named 80-minute presentation.

Population Served

People of all ages.

Languages Spoken

English with translation services available

Address / Contact Info

PO Box 1118 Nanaimo, BCV9R 6E7

Phone Numbers

Toll-free: 1-888-494-3888
Administrative: 1-877-753-2495
Fax: (250) 753-2475

Hours of Operation

Regular hours: 7 nights a week, 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Pacific Time

Web Links

Categorization

This program was last updated on: 17 Aug 2020.