The Distress
Centre, Oshawa opened its first telephone helpline on October 20,
1970. Modeled after England's "Good Samaritan" agency
discovered on a trip by Rev. Allen and Shirley Lavis, what was soon
to become a community fixture was born. Currently as it has for
the past 2 decades, the Centre gratefully receives support from
United Way Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington/Brock/Scugog and United Way
Ajax/Pickering/Uxbridge.
On October
24, 1974 The Distress Centre, Oshawa was incorporated as a non-profit
organization and registered as a charitable entity with a mandate
to "provide a volunteer telephone service through which people
in distress can communicate with an understanding, friendly and
empathetic person". Since 1974, the Centre has provided service
to thousands of individuals in Durham region, and answered tens
of thousands of Helpline calls.
