The History of Telecare
The Telecare model for a crisis intervention telephone ministry originated in Sydney, Australia in 1963. The Rev. Alan Walker of Sydney's Central Methodist Mission saw a need for such a service and founded the "Life Line". The LifeLine centre in Sydney was opened on March 16, 1963, after more than a year of preparation, with the city-wide announcement that "help is as close as the telephone".
The first LifeLine related service in Canada was founded in Sudbury, Ontario on October 4, 1965, by the Rev. D. Bruce MacDougall of St. Peter's United Church.
The Telecare Centre in Sudbury is the oldest 24-hour-a-day telephone ministry in continuous service in North America. It was originally known as LifeLine but the name was changed to Telecare in 1970.
Today, in Canada, there are 8 centres in operation, waiting to take calls from people in need of someone to listen to them.
Locally
In Abbotsford the first training class for Central Fraser Valley Telecare volunteers started in January 1989 with a large group of dedicated people from several local churches. Trainees were interviewed in the late spring, and by July an office was secured, the telephone was in place and all was ready for the calls to start coming in. For some volunteers it took many shifts before they answered their first call. Over the years thousands of calls have been answered.
Through the use of a toll free number, the Telecare service, now known as the Telecare Crisis and Caring Line expanded its’ service into the Chilliwack and Langley areas.
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Vision Statement:
The Telecare Crisis and Caring Line is building a stronger community, meeting the needs of callers, promoting emotional, mental, spiritual wellness through referrals and a progressively skilled volunteer telephone support network.
Mission Statement:
The Telecare Crisis and Caring Line demonstrates the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ by providing – dedicated, skilled, and empathic listeners to anyone who calls for help.
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Our Purpose is to:
· provide telephone, befriending and caring, and empathic listening service for people in moments of personal crisis or distress.
· be a crisis intervention service for those callers incapable of mobilizing their own personal resources.
· refer to other agencies which may provide a helping service in the physical or social service sense.
· assist people with problems as they struggle to make sense of their life circumstances, and as they attempt to mobilize the resources available to them.
· provide a confidential, anonymous and non-judgmental trained LISTENER, and in doing so, to translate the meaning of God’s love for all people into a very real and helping experience for people who at specific times in their life need ‘someone who cares.’
· To provide a Christian based, telephone operated, crisis intervention service.
· To provide trained volunteer staff seven days a week, twenty four hours a day.
· To be available at all times.
· To respond in a caring spirit to the needs of any caller, regardless of race, creed or social standing, who may be facing personal problems.
· To be supportive and responsive to people at their time of crisis.
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Affiliated with LifeLine International and Telecare Distress Centres of Canada Inc. | 
