Our Story:

More than three decades ago, a new community “Help Centre" equipped to deal with a broad cross-section of social problems opened in the City of Brampton. This initiative, which evolved from a proposal made by Rev. Gordon Williams of St. Paul’s United Church, opened its doors on January 17, 1973, as a volunteer-based call-in and drop-in centre providing emotional support to those in need of physical and mental health support.

Having witnessed first-hand the needy in body and spirit knocking on the doors of the churches, Rev. Williams, with the assistance of Rev. Bruce Besley and Rev. David Jones, fought the subtlety of adverse public opinion to open a centre which would provide emergency counselling and accommodation.

Initially, the centre was open 12 hours a day but within a few weeks of operation, the demand for the services necessitated it being open 24 hours a day with a drop-in hostel component for the marginalized, transient and helpless people in Brampton. Although the centre was primarily run by volunteers who responded to the telephone calls, through sponsorship by several churches and a Federal Local Initiatives Grant, it was able to employ 12 paid night staff to manage the 22-bed hostel.

In its first year, the centre received 2,777 calls and 3,136 drop-ins.  In 1975, the hostel was forced to close due to lack of sufficient funding. However, the telephone line continued to provide confidential crisis and befriending support for adults to discuss their personal issues with a non-judgmental listener.

Today, more than 37 years later, Spectra Community Support Services offers a 24-hour English distress line service, seven days a week, staffed by dedicated staff and volunteers, and receives approximately 20,000 calls per year. The reasons why people call have not changed significantly.  The majority of calls still deal with loneliness, mental/physical illnesses, grief, abuse, social isolation, or interpersonal relationship problems.

In addition to providing distress line service in English, Spectra Community Support Services has expanded and grown to accommodate many new programs in different languages.  Spectra Community Support Services is a diverse and an inclusive organization that truly represents and reflects the demographics of the region of Peel.