The Teacher Chang Foundation, which is known for its telephone counseling service, said yesterday it has launched a video channel on YouTube and would activate a text-messaging account on the popular mobile phone application Line by the end of the year to reach out more young people in need.
It added that it also plans to expand the number of its workers in New Taipei City and Greater Tainan and that starting April 1, its “1980” service hotline became toll-free for calls from landlines and payphones.
The foundation was created 45 years ago by the China Youth Corps, which was established by then-premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in response to rising problems among the nation’s teenagers and young people.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
To celebrate the organization’s 45th anniversary, the foundation yesterday unveiled a statue of Sung Shih-hsuan (宋時選), who was listed first on the rotation list of the telephone counselors when the foundation was set up in 1969.
Besides telephone counselors, the foundation has also experts in psychology, social work and psychiatric treatment. The foundation has 12 counseling centers nationwide.
According to the foundation, it receives more than 250 calls to its counselling service on a normal day.
In addition to young people, the foundation also handles counseling requests from the general public. It has set up a special service line to help people quit smoking.
Special counseling was also made available to people affected by the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and the disasters caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
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