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The Foundation
A historical entity dedicated to immediate and confidential emotional support.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. CONFIDENTIAL. 24/7
Hope online
Esperança en Línia is a non-profit and canonical entity dedicated to promoting, encouraging and supporting people who suffer from emotional distress, unwanted loneliness or exhibit suicidal behavior.
This support is provided through urgent and immediate care services, such as the Hope Phone, the Suicide Prevention Phone or emotional support chats aimed at adolescents and young people or caregivers.
Half a century at the service of society
Awards and recognitions
2007
Josep Parera Award
2009
Cross of Saint George
2010
Ramon de Teserach Award
2021
EU Health Award - Suicide Prevention Hotline
2023
Second Prize for Volunteering - Suicide Prevention Hotline
2023
Confederation Jury Award - Emotional Support Chat for Adolescents and Young People
2024
Good social practices from Barcelona City Council - Suicide Prevention Hotline
2024
Innovation Award from the Catalonia Mental Health Federation - Emotional Support Chat for Young People
mission
Esperança en Línia offers care and emotional support in a framework of complete confidentiality with the aim of improving the quality of life and emotional well-being of people who experience situations of loneliness, lack of communication or that generate suffering, thus contributing to creating a more supportive, welcoming and resilient society.
vision
We want to be a national and international reference entity in the development of innovative services and initiatives that respond to the needs of society to promote the emotional well-being of all people. This vision of the future is based on four axes:
1. ACTIVE LISTENING: working to ensure that this communication model becomes a benchmark for interpersonal relationships in our society.
2. TRAINING AND COUNSELING: training in situations of need, in caring for people in crisis, suicide prevention and active listening, among others.
3. COMMUNITY CARE: achieving a leading position in community care and volunteering, so that any person can become a driver of social transformation.
4. EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING: creating and promoting spaces and tools to foster the emotional well-being of all people
Ens basem en el poder de l'acció voluntària per a oferir empatia i escolta sense judicis en un marc de respecte i solidaritat
Our values
VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering is our essence and the basis of our actions. Therefore, caring for volunteers is the principle that guides our day-to-day activities.
EMPATHY
From the practical application of the principle of otherness, we understand the person, their experiences and circumstances and the situation they are going through.
SOLIDARITY
We maintain an attitude of service, commitment and responsibility towards people, promoting social rights and equity in all our actions.
RESPECT
In the development of our services we never make value judgments, we do not advise or offer solutions. We embrace the situations of the people we serve and generate bonds from the recognition of each person's own reality.
COMMITMENT
Our founding objective is to contribute to the improvement of people's emotional well-being. And this is made possible by the commitment of volunteers and the Foundation's team and governing bodies, within a framework of co-responsibility and shared values. From generosity and the will to contribute to a better world, carrying out our work with maximum responsibility in all dimensions.
HOPE
We are always by each other's side, offering support and care, and working together for a better future. Offering light to people who need us and working for their empowerment and growth so that they can overcome difficult times and become protagonists of their own story.
The Help and Hope Foundation
Esperança en Línia – Fundació Ajuda i Esperança is a non-profit organization that was born in 1987 with the aim of continuing the legacy of Monsignor Miquel Àngel Terribas. In 1969, Terribas founded the first Esperança telephone line in the entire Spanish State. The service, based on active listening and absolute anonymity of both the caller and the volunteers who answer the callThis device, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has continued to operate since then, handling more than 30,000 calls each year.
In recent years, the Foundation has experienced a series of changes that have materialized new ways of operating and new services. In 2020, attention to the Telephone of Hope (93 414 48 48) was now done remotely thanks to a virtual platform that, at that time, allowed us to observe the confinement due to the COVID19 pandemic and that allows us to have volunteering throughout the country and, lately, the world.
That same year he was born Suicide Prevention Telephone (900 925 555), a device specialized in handling calls with suicidal content.
In the summer of 2022, we launched a another pioneering device throughout the state, the Emotional Support Chat for Young People, a chat aimed at teenagers and young people between 14 and 25 years old who can attend just send a WhatsApp to 679 333 363Despite the long history and diverse formats, our desire has always been to offer support confidential emotional support for people in distress emotional through active listening. From 2023, all young people in Catalonia can enjoy the chat support format thanks to I open Feel also via WhatsApp, it is aimed at adolescents and young people aged 14 to 29 throughout the territory. This service is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat de Catalunya
The chat support format and its advantages (being able to contact them when no privacy or time available) have been applied to a group of people in need of attention such as the caregivers. Both those who dedicate themselves to it in a professional manner like someone who takes care of a member of their family, often experiences loneliness, emotional exhaustion and burn out. The Emotional Support Chat for Caregivers, at number 655 505 517, aims to respond to these situations and has the support of the Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya. The service was launched in the summer of 2024.
More recently, the organization has initiated a process ofinternationalization which, among other initiatives, has led to the establishment of a Suicide Prevention Service and a chat for young people in AndorraTherefore, with the support of the Ministry of Health of the principality, Esperança en Línia has promoted the Green Line 177 – Suicidal Behavior Prevention Hotline i Totbé? – Emotional Support Chat for Young People.
All this support activity is carried out thanks to thevoluntary activityEsperança en Línea has more than 400 people who attend to the different devices. The fact that non-professionals are the ones who answer the caller is not a coincidence. On the contrary, according to the World Health Organization, in cases of emotional crisis or suicidal behavior it is It is more effective to talk to a person we consider an equal than to healthcare or therapeutic personnel.The person who addresses the devices feels more comfortable and welcomed with a volunteer member, as a rapport is established. more horizontal communication, without establishing hierarchies of any kind, favoring a more open and intimate conversation. The people who attend the different services first receive specialized training from mental health professionals, who also supervise and support the volunteer team.
Help us have conversations that save lives
Collaborate so that we continue listening to those who need it most.
