North Island Crisis

At the North Island Crisis and Counselling Centre Society, we are dedicated to providing a wide range of counselling and support services to individuals and families in the Mount Waddington Regional District and central coast. Our organization is a community-based, not-for-profit charitable organization registered under the Societies Act in the Province of British Columbia and a charitable organization registered under the federal Charities Act of Canada.

Our Mission

Our focus is on prevention as well as intervention. We provide for this in the North Island Community through advocacy, crisis intervention, referral services, counselling, child development, and family supports. Our approach is to work in a pro-active manner as a co-operative member of the local service provision community. We humbly acknowledge that we live and work on traditional territories of the Kwakwaka'waw People with 'mayaxala (love & respect).

Our Services

We offer a broad range of counselling and support services, delivered in diverse ways to best suit the needs of those we serve, and in a variety of locations. Our services are professional, prompt, confidential, and mostly provided free of charge. These services include adult programs, child and youth programs, women's services, and infant and supported child development. We also provide crisis intervention services, including a 24/7 crisis line, and a women's safe shelter.

Our Team

The Society is governed by a 5-person Board of Directors, who have the obligation to act in the best interests of the Corporation and to exercise the care, diligence, and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances. Our Board, staff, and volunteers are made up of more than 50 people, all of whom are committed to helping families and individuals in our North Island Communities. We are conscientious in our hiring practices to ensure that everyone has the appropriate skills and experience to meet your needs.

Our History

The North Island Crisis & Counselling Centre began in 1981 as the Port Hardy Crisis Intervention Society. The Society was formed almost entirely as the result of the efforts of Gillian Rippingale and Sally How. Both women recognized a crying need for counselling and support services in the community. They worked together to lobby for funding while at the same time, providing many of these services themselves on a volunteer basis. Over the years, the focus of the Society has shifted slightly, and both our name and constitution has reflected these changes. In 1986, the name was changed to the North Island Crisis Centre, and later to the North Island Crisis and Counselling Centre Society.