When the Canadian Mental Health Association launched a new 24/7 hotline in April, they expected to hear from about 80 people per day.

Instead, they’re taking between 300 and 400 calls every weekday from people looking for support with addiction, mental health or crisis issues.

“We absolutely were not expecting the volume or the demand,” Helen Fishburn, director of the CMHA for Waterloo-Wellington-Dufferin, tells CTV News.

“There’s a tremendous need in our community that has not been met.”

The new hotline replaces the work of 12 separate agencies, making it easier for the agencies to know which people needs their specific supports and easier for the callers to get connected with the right sort of help.

“Sometimes people haven’t known who to call for help, so they’d call everybody and get on everybody’s waiting list,” says Fishburn.

Callers to the new hotline are prioritized based on the information they provide.

Those who need immediate support are put in touch with others who can provide it, while callers with less urgent issues are sometimes asked to leave a message.

But even responding to all those messages is a challenge – as of Wednesday, the CMHA’s 32-person response team had only fully cleared the backlog to the end of April.

“That’s frustrating for them as they wait for our call, and it’s also frustrating for us knowing that they’re waiting,” says Fishburn.

Those who deal with the cars say they’re not bothered by the volume itself – they want to hear from absolutely everyone who needs their service – only that they weren’t better prepared to handle what one service co-ordinator calls an “overwhelming” need for help.

“I want to support someone in the here and now. I want to make sure people continue that momentum that they’ve got to get help,” says Tahlia Simpson.

“We don’t want people to get hurt. We want to make sure that people are safe and they’re getting the support that they need.”

The CMHA plans to closely monitor call volumes over the next few weeks to determine whether the recent demand is a blip in the radar or a true reflection of community needs.

After that, Fishburn says, they’ll adjust their staffing to match the demand.