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Pocono News Section
Helpline Now Needs Help
Helpline Now Needs Help - Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 7:50PM EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- It’s been a lifeline in Northeastern Pennsylvania for more than 40 years. Now it may be forced to shutdown. It’s called Helpline. The number is locked away in many people's memory -- 829-1341. But now, the fate of this call-in helpline is now in question.
Helpline needs your help. The line is run by Family Service Association of Wyoming Valley. But unless the community gets involved Helpline could soon be history.
Helpline is really a lifeline to those in need and to agencies like the police or even 9-1-1, when people need help. But now, money troubles could place these calls on hold.
Dr. Dennis Gourley is Executive Director of Helpline. He says, “We've been really successful getting some additional support. It bought us some additional time. But as an organization we're on a month to month basis. So we can project to make it until the full end of the year or curtail operations between now and June."
Helpline is a life line. They handle calls about home heating help, homeless, battered women, even suicide attempts.
Dr. Dennis Gourley adds, "Helpline is a gateway for many services for many people who don't know where to go for services. They call here first and we are able to tell them where the services are. We had 113,000 calls last year." | |
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