$1.5M to explore best practices for youth mental health
As a teen, Natasha struggled with anger, didn't want to leave her room and didn't know what was going on. Doctors suggested it was hormones, a part of growing up, but it wasn't until she found mental health supports until she had a name for it: depression.
The teen's story, shared on the Foundry's YouTube page, points to some of the issues young people struggling with mental health face, and is why the one-stop shop for those aged 12 to 24 exists.
The program encourages youth to be advocates for their mental health, utilizing other young people to provide help before the person reaches a crisis stage.
Steve Mathias is the executive director of Foundry, which along with mental health supports, offers substance use, primary care, sexual health care and social services.
"What we often hear from youth is that if Foundry didn't exist, one out of four kids wouldn't go anywhere to get support," Mathias said Monday.
Founded in 2016, currently, there are 11 locations around the province, and eight more planned.
To replicate the success of the program and reach youth who may not otherwise get it is why the Bell-Graham Boek Foundation Partnership is gifting $1.5 million over three years to the program.
The announcement came just days before Bell Let's Talk Day, which is meant to spark conversations and raise money to address mental health challenges. CTV News is owned by Bell.
Foundry is seen as a model for how kids in the future will get mental health and other supports. The money will be used to expand research into the centre – why it works – and will eventually be used to help kids across the country.
A news release said the funding would "help to bolster Foundry’s research team and its Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) team over the next three years to improve integrated health and social services for youth and their families and caregivers in B.C., and support other emerging Integrated Youth Services (IYS) initiatives around the country and beyond."
Dan Nixon, a Youth Engagement Specialist with Foundry, said one of the keys to the program's success is how big a role youth play.
"The people who will be impacted by findings of research should not only be involved in the research process but should be the researchers themselves, this is the future Foundry sees," Nixon said at a virtual even announcing the funding.
He added he was "giddy" when thinking about the impact the research could have for kids across the country.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.