"Crisis Hotline's Supervisor Has Learned From Experience"

OHSWEKEN - Penny Greene knows what it's like to hurt.

As supervisor of the Six Nations Child and Family Support Service, a crisis hotline for people in trouble, the 28-year-old knows exactly what many of the people who call for help are going through.

She's been there.

Thirteen years ago she tried to kill herself. When she failed, she tried again.

And again.

"I would attempt it at every given opportunity," she said. "Eventually I had a very close call and ended up in hospital and got professional help."

The non-profit phone-in service, which is under the umbrella of the Ministry of Community and Social Services, has volunteers waiting for calls around the clock.

Since joining the organization four years ago, Ms. Greene has moved from office manager-bookkeeper to supervisor.

As one of two full-time staff working on the hotline along with 42 registered trained volunteers, she said the most important thing is the ability to listen.

While the volunteers may get a call that sounds trivial to them, they have to remember that, to the caller, it is serious.

"A crisis isn't what we perceive as a crisis but what they do," she said. "We take all calls seriously. They are all important. If they're important enough for them to call, they're important."

Callers are often referred to specialists who can help them with their particular problem.

Calls are strictly confidential and the callers remain anonymous, but often the tone of voice tells the operators a lot about the problem.

Distress is easily discernable from crying or hyper-talking but it is the voices that express no emotion that are usually the most dangerous ones, according to Ms. Greene.

"Sometimes a person may call and have no emotions at all in a suicide case," she said. "That's really hard."

Because of the nature of some of the calls, the job can be high stress and after a long shift volunteers can be emotionally exhausted. But helping a person in need can be a thrill.