Planned Parenthood N.L. looking for volunteers for its new helpline

Planned Parenthood Newfoundland and Labrador is launching a new helpline, and it's looking for volunteers to help staff it.

The line will offer peer support services to callers from the LGBTQ community and any other gender or sexuality minorities across the province.

"Because we're one of the only brick and mortarplaces that supports2SLGBTQIA+ folks, we noticed we were getting calls from people looking for support that we either couldn't provide or didn't have the time or capacity to provide,"said Nikki Baldwin, executive director of Planned Parenthood Newfoundland and Labrador.

"It seemed like such a big gap in service."

2SLGBTQIA+ represents two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other people.

The idea is to help reach those outside of major provincial centres, or those who move from rural areas into larger communities and don't know anyone, said Baldwin.

"In Newfoundland we find there's a lot of resources for those who are younger and trying to find themselves. Especially if they live in the city. But most Newfoundlanders don't come out until they're a little bit older, and those resources just don't exist," she said.

"Isolation is really bad for mental health, and with our line we can help connect them to their community that they may not have found yet, or they have not discovered, or that doesn't exist in their small town.".

Baldwin said the line is for those who are going through new personal experiences and may be embarrassed or ashamed to talk about it with friends or family. It is open to all ages.

"They can call us, no shame, and we can help them out anonymously," she said.

The helpline will be staffed by volunteers with lived experience in the LGBTQcommunity. Planned Parenthood is looking for volunteers who are at least 19 years old. Applications for the first wave closes on July 31.

Baldwin said the line should be up and running by mid-September.

Read morefrom CBC Newfoundland and Labrador