The Contact Hotline is available 24 hours/day and 7 days/week—it is free and confidential for problems big and small. The hotline is toll-free throughout Onondaga County and some nearby areas. For free wallet cards and posters, please see details below.

Onondaga County
Call 315-251-0600

Residents of Cayuga County have a special toll-free number through a contract with that county’s mental health department.

Cayuga County
Call 1-877-400-8740

What is the Contact Hotline?

Contact Community Services has provided 24-hour telephone counseling to Central New York since 1971. We provide support for people of all ages with a wide range of concerns, including—loneliness, relationship problems, job issues, sexuality, parenting, grief and depression.

The Contact Hotline is the community’s only suicide and crisis counseling line. You can call if you are thinking of hurting yourself or if you are worried about a friend, relative, co-worker or neighbor. We also provide critical support to hundreds of callers struggling with physical abuse, sexual abuse, or problems related to substance abuse.

The Contact Hotline is certified by the American Association of Suicidology www.suicidology.org/ . This means the hotline has met very high standards of training and service to the public.

The Contact Hotline provides after-hours coverage for many mental health professionals and clinics, as well as the Onondaga County Department of Mental Health.

Who calls the Contact Hotline?

People of all ages call the hotline-senior citizens, middle aged people, young adults, teens, and even young children. They call with a wide range of concerns.

Why do people call the Contact Hotline?

The Contact Hotline is a crisis line. A crisis is something that causes you distress, and you need help to cope with it. A crisis to one person may not be a crisis to another.

People call us if they are suicidal or worried about a friend, relative or co-worker who has threatened suicide.

BUT—You do not have to be in a crisis to call the Contact Hotline. You don’t even have to be upset. You can call simply because you need to talk out an issue or concern or because you are feeling alone and need to connect with another person.

What can you expect if you call?

If you are very upset, talking helps you calm down. Knowing that a caring person is genuinely listening helps to ease your pain, anger, fear or frustration.

Our counselors are highly trained in active listening. They ask you questions, help you to focus, summarize what you are saying to make sure they are understanding you, and explore options. They do not give advice or make judgments.

A call to the hotline can help you put an issue in perspective or look at it in a new way. Our telephone counselors can help you reach your own conclusions or decisions about a situation, but only if you are ready and willing.

Counselors can also make referrals to other agencies and services if you are open to that option.

Most telephone calls last 10 to 20 minutes, unless you are in crisis.

Learn how to become a hotline volunteer.

Free Wallet Cards or Posters

Order wallet cards or posters so that your clients, students, employees and others will know they can call The Contact Hotline when they need to talk out a problem.

Email contact@contactsyracuse.org to order or call 315-251-1400, ext. 100. Please tell us how many wallet cards and/or posters you need. (Posters have 50-sheet tear-off pads with phone number.)