Who We Are
Distress and Crisis Ontario
About Us
We're here for you.
Our Values
Distress and Crisis Ontario (DCO) is an administrative membership association, registered as a non-profit charity in April of 1983, that supports advocacy, networking, and training for many Distress Centres (DCs) across Ontario. DCs offer instant support and a variety of services to their communities and are a place where you can find a listening ear for anyone who is feeling lonely, depressed, is struggling with suicidal ideation, or who is otherwise in need of support. Most centres operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and may include suicide survivor programs, LGBTQ+ friendly services, support services for youth, telephone call-out programs for seniors and other vulnerable populations, mental health crisis lines, and more.
Leadership
Accountability
Collaboration and Empowerment
Inclusion
Integrity
Distress Centres (DCs) across Ontario offer real-time support and a variety of other services that address the needs of their communities.
DCs provide their listening and referral services for free, primarily through highly trained and committed volunteers who are knowledgeable individuals who are dedicated to ensuring that the highest levels of support and innovation in service provision are offered to their communities.
In everything we do here at Distress and Crisis Ontario (DCO) we aim to provide advocacy for our Members and the distress/crisis sector, training for volunteers and leadership, and to foster networking among Member centres to allow for partnerships and growth among the sector.
Our Strategic Priorities for 2026-2031
View our Strategic Priorities for 2026-2031Member Value and Service Excellence
Adapt the training, support, and education we provide for members to remain consistent with sector standards and ensure we meet our members’ needs.
Strategic Communications and Public Awareness
Build a cuture of collaboration to enhance board recruitment, development, and rentention while annually reviewing DCO’s priorities and evolving as needed.
Building Capacity and Relationships Within the System
Foster supportive and strategic relationships with our members and external organizations to strengthen DCO’s role as a leader within the system, and build capacity for specialized distress, crisis, and suicidality services.
Best Practices in Data Collection
Implement secure and responsive practices in data collection to ensure transparency, validity, and rigour.
Organizational Effectiveness and Governance
Review key organizational components to ensure currency, effectiveness and efficiency; then realign and reorganize where necessary.
Mission
Building capacity in organizations that provide distress, crisis, and suicidality services through training, education, and collaboration, and advocating universal access to these services.
Vision
A world in which distress, crisis, and suicidality services are adequately funded and supported by DCO to promote community-based and trauma-informed care.
Thank You to Our Major Funder and Supporter
We would like to thank LifeLine International for their grant of $3,500.00 to support our Clyde Mental Health and Addictions Awareness Project. Their funding will go towards continually raising awareness and providing tools to professionals and communities of individuals, families, and interest groups to aid them in supporting suicide prevention and intervention.
