Agency Details:

CONTACT Of Ocean And Monmouth Counties

CONTACT of Ocean and Monmouth Counties, a non profit, charitable organization, provides trained telephone listeners who respond to human needs 24 hours every day. This volunteer based organization offers free confidential crisis intervention, information on available resources, and referral to community services.

NEXT TRAINING SESSION BEGINS FEBRUARY 3, 2010!! CALL (732) 240-6104 FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Description:
CONTACT is simply people helping people. CONTACT volunteers field calls in a caring, non-judgmental manner. It is CONTACT's belief that each of us has the ability to use our own energy to find our own solutions. Through intensive training volunteers develop empathetic listening skills to help callers determine their feelings, identify their options, and find their strengths to resolve their problems. We also make referrals, when appropriate, to various community services that are available to the caller.

History:
On March 16, 1963, the Rev. Dr. Allan Walker, minister in the Methodist Church in Sydney, Australia founded Life Line. This was a unique program that was designed to train volunteers to be available by telephone 24 hours a day. Two years later Rev. John Brand, a minister in Dallas, Texas took the initiative to begin a similar program in the United States. CONTACT was chosen as the name of the new ministry because Life Line was a radio station in Dallas at the time. In autumn of 1966, 150 volunteers went through 6 months of training and came on the phones! March 27, 1967 CONTACT Dallas, Texas became the first center in the Unites States. Through the help of the Methodist Church and the Council for Telephone Ministries, 31 communities expressed an interest in establishing a center in their community. Today CONTACT USA has over 60 centers in 21 states, with 10,000 volunteers responding to over 1.2 million callers per year. As the only national network of telephone helpline centers in the United States, CONTACT USA is committed to a vision of reaching all who seek someone to listen, someone who cares. CONTACT of Ocean and Monmouth Counties volunteers have responded to the needs of individuals throughout our community since 1975.

Contact people:

Carol Weshnak, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Mariann Mancini, Administrative Assistant, (phone), (email) Dayna Ceruzzi, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (732) 914-0148

Address:

Training Location Barnegat, NJ 08005 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.contactocean.org

Last updated on January 5, 2010