There’s a program out there intended to help adults feel less isolated due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Friendly Calls is an eight-hour-long daily program where Canadian Red Cross staff or volunteers reach out to regularly to those who have called to register.
Bill Lawlor, provincial director for New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, said 55 clients have come on board so far.
“To reach out and make sure that we could extend an offering of service to primarily elderly or seniors but not exclusively, and certainly for those that are experiencing some form of social isolation,” he said.
The program is funded on a one-year contract from Bell Canada but the Red Cross is looking for funding to continue it.
“We recognize through the conversations that we’ve had so far that there’s definitely a need for this program not just throughout New Brunswick but indeed the Atlantic provinces,” he said.
Lawlor said the volunteers have worked with all types of backgrounds and if someone is feeling lonely, they shouldn’t screen themselves out.
“Part of the challenge if you will, of growing a program like this, is very seldom does someone seem themselves as a vulnerable, or someone who could benefit from this type of service. It’s always that they’re OK, it’s their neighbour who could potentially require more service than them or more support,” he said.
Lawlor said he hopes people reach out if they need the support.
In the Atlantic provinces, the number to call to register yourself or a loved one for this program is 1-833-729-0144. The phone line is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
