This is the way most of us think of
Christmas, happy faces, bright packages,
new presents and a warm family time
full of food and love.
But not all family gatherings are happy
ones, and sometimes people have too
little or too much under their Christmas
trees. So economic hard times and
family problems can make Christmas a time
of depression and loneliness.
All of us have expectations over the
holidays that things are going to
be magical and
we just expect that it will be a merry
time and it is not always merry.
And the daily problems that
you have the day before Christmas are
going to be there on Christmas.
That's why the Suicide and Crisis Center
in Dallas is open 24 hours a day,
even on holidays, so people can call
in and talk about their problems with
trained volunteers.
The center gets about 20000 calls
each year, and volunteers like Naomi
Jarrett say helping someone is rewarding,
even though all the depression sometimes
is hard to take.
I enjoy being here and being here
when someone needs to talk.
The number to call is eight to eight.
One thousand for similar help in Fort
Worth. Call three three six three three
five five.
But the challenge doesn't end with the
phone calls. This center operates on
donations only no public money.
Officials say they know they're doing an
important job during the holidays, but
their Christmas wish will be to keep the
lines open during 1983.
Jane Boone, Channel 5 Action News, Dallas.