By Laura Wolfe, Development Director, Catholic Charities Diocese of Springfield

Diocese of Springfield in Illinois creates program to offer mental health solutions in midst of coronavirus

For the past seven years Eleanor has suffered from dementia and her daughter Jenny has faithfully visited her in the nursing home where she lives.

When the nursing home closed its doors to the public because of safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Jenny feared her mom’s already failing health would worsen.  Jenny quickly realized the stress she felt was causing her own health to deteriorate. Jenny needed someone to hear her cry for understanding and support.

Twenty-five miles away, pre-coronavirus, William’s social life consisted of leaving his home to go to the store and restaurants.

William had been a hard worker, but had become estranged from his family many years ago. He learned to adjust to a new kind of loneliness with the arrival of the coronavirus. The 76-year-old retired U.S. Navy veteran felt like any connection he had with the outside world dwindled to nothing and he needed someone to listen.

As the weeks passed, William and Jenny longed for normalcy. They both felt hopeless and depressed.

Then, each happened to see an advertisement for a free public service, the Catholic Charities COPE Line, which offers compassionate, optimistic, professional, and empathetic mental health guidance by telephone.

The COPE Line was created a few weeks into the pandemic to help people deal with the stress and anxiety related to loneliness, confinement, finances, unemployment or other problems related to the coronavirus outbreak. Unlike traditional therapy, there are no fees, no enrollment forms, and no applications.

Both Jenny and William decided to call the COPE Line, and they were met with compassion and empathy by licensed professional counselor, Annetta Finley.

Annetta has been a licensed therapist for 15 years. She listened to their problems and offered them hope in the middle of their anxiety and feelings of helplessness and uncertainty.

The COPE Line provides an outlet for people to vent and someone who will listen without judgment or preconceived ideas. Some of the conversations have actually become spiritual and, in addition to listening and imparting coping skills, I’ve been able to pray with the person.

Annetta

Catholic Charities wants to be a light in every community it serves, big, small, rural and urban. The main goal with the COPE Line is to help people understand they are not alone. Catholic Charities reaches out to people as part of its mission to seek out those who are suffering.

“When the Governor’s Office put the Stay at Home Order restrictions in place, we knew that there would be many people who would become more socially isolated and depressed,” said Steven Roach, executive director for Catholic Charities, in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.  “We knew we had to be creative and think of ways to reach them, and that’s how the idea for the Catholic Charities COPE Line was born.”

To learn more about Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois or its programs, visit cc.dio.org.