19 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,O ctober 29,2020 insidehalton.com Meetings at Halton Region Regional Council meetings are taking place through web conferencing until further notice. Videos will be posted to halton.ca. NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events ormeetings. 10 22 20 Important Information • Please have yard waste at the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day and no sooner than 5 p.m. the evening before. • Use paper yard waste bags or a container with a yard waste sticker. To order a sticker, visit halton.ca/waste or call 311. Help keep our compost clean! When cleaning your yard, ensure only the right items make it into your paper yard waste bag or container. Yard waste is broken down into valuable compost and is used to improve soil quality. Follow these tips to keep our compost clean: Acceptable yard waste materials: YardWaste Collection • Pumpkins (remove candles and decorations) • Leaves • Sticks & twigs • Decorative cornstalks • Fallen fruit from trees • Yard and garden trimmings Unacceptable materials: Plastic bags, including clear plastic, compostable plastic or soil bags Plastic plant pots & trays Yard waste can be dropped off year round at the HaltonWaste Management Site for composting. Visit halton.ca/hwms for more information, fees and instructions. HaltonWaste Management Site Open Monday to Saturday 5400 Regional Road 25, Milton 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Grass clippings, sod, tree stumps, soil, clay or rocks Gary Carr Regional Chair Throughout the pandemic we have continued to deliver our essential services that so many rely on, including Blue Box and Green Cart collection and drop-services at the HaltonWaste Management Site. Thank you to everyone who has been following safety measures, while continuing to make sure you are putting waste in the right place! Here are few safety tips to remember: Reducing waste and keeping each other safe For information on how to properly sort your waste, tips and reminders, visit halton.ca/waste. • bag and tie all garbage and Green Cart material; • wrap mattresses and box springs in plastic; and • ensure your bins or bags do not exceed 50 pounds and are safe to collect. Anyone, at any time, can find themselves feeling overwhelmed or lonely, but you should know that sup- port is a phone call away, said the executive director of Distress Centre Halton. "You don't have to be alone during these times. It can help to talk about your feelings, especially to some- one outside of your immedi- ate circle," said Dara Eisner Clancy. "Talking with someone can help you to process your feelings, whether you're ex- periencing loneliness, job uncertainty, stress at school, the loss of a loved one, thoughts of suicide. No issue is too big or too small." Distress Centre Halton, an amalgamation of the Oakville and North Halton distress centres and Tele- care Burlington, has been supporting ever-increasing numbers of callers for more than 45 years - callers of all ages, cultural, economic and family backgrounds, both men and women. De- mand has escalated, hours have expanded and volun- teer recruitment is con- stant. Distress Centre Hal- ton is now a 24-7 365-day ser- vice. And that was before the pandemic. As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on everyday living, the need has intensi- fied, and with the onset of winter, the upcoming holi- days and the potential for a second lockdown, numbers are certain to rise. Over the past seven months, volunteers have been struck with the inten- sity of the calls and the nu- merous caregivers and those employed in the es- sential services who have sought emotional support - everyone from nurses to those caring for ill loved ones at home. Within a week of the lockdown, the distress cen- tre had its outbound ser- vice, TeleCheck, working remotely, and by the begin- ning of April, volunteers were taking distress line calls remotely from home as well, said Clancy. "We actually increased our capacity to help out the community when we were in lockdown. We more than doubled our TeleCheck calls during this time. Many who registered with the ser- vice were unable to connect regularly with their support workers and we were able to provide that daily or weekly support over the phone." It was an upsetting time during the lockdown, as many callers had lost their caseworkers and a face-to- face connection, she said. "We had emotional calls about custody of children, not certain if the children should change households. Caretakers who were con- cerned and felt helpless. There was grief at the loss of graduation ceremonies minimized, weddings post- poned, funeral gatherings limited. Our seniors were isolated and struggled to find connection." Many callers are finding it more difficult to cope as time goes by, she said. "People are already ex- hausted from the restric- tions and heightened anxi- ety that the pandemic has brought. The looming threat of another lockdown and the continued uncer- tainty is wearing society out." Volunteers are there to listen without judgment, said Clancy. "We want to encourage people to physically dis- tance but socially stay con- nected. Stay in touch with each other, talk more. You can talk about goals and projects and how things are progressing in your life, as well as taking some time to vent and be honest about how you are coping. It really is OK not to be OK." Distress Centre Halton is always looking for volun- teers and is currently ac- cepting applications for its winter training program, which begins online in Jan- uary. You must be over the age of 19, and training is pro- vided. If you are in need of emo- tional support, call 905-849- 4541 (Oakville), 905-681-1488 (Burlington) or 905-877-1211 (Halton Hills). TeleCheck is an out- bound service offered that supports isolated seniors, caregivers, those awaiting mental health services and others, for which people are referred through organiza- tions such as the Canadian Mental Health Association. You can also self-refer via an application on the web- site www.dchalton.ca/ aboutus. 'NO ISSUE IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL' KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com Distress Centre Halton offers support for all types of issues. Pexels photo NEWS DISTRESS CENTRE HALTON JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY STAY UP TO DATE AT INSIDEHALTON.COM