Teen mental health focus of Building Healthy People project
Some of Niagara Falls’ student leaders are planning to implement a teen mental wellness project to help their peers get through what can be a stressful time in their lives.
The group’s efforts will be made possible by up to $77,550 in provincial grant money.
The Niagara Falls mayor’s youth advisory committee is working with the public and Catholic school boards, as well as several local support organizations, to organize the MYAC Legacy Project – 150 and Beyond! Building Healthy People.
The project will focus on mental wellness and building resilience in Niagara Falls high-school students.
Its goal will be to build skills and develop tools needed to cope with stress, change and regular everyday challenges. Instead of just focusing on those with mental illness, the project will focus on all youth to enable them to better care for themselves and support their peers.
“This is something that’s huge, especially for our age — people are stressed, there’s always problems and mental health is something that can be pushed under the rug a lot,” said Luka Vujic, co-chair of MYAC and a 17-year-old student at A.N. Myer.
“Our goal is … let’s talk about it, let’s bring it up.”
Action planning on mental wellness follows MYAC’s mandate, said Erica George, vice-chair of MYAC and a 15-year-old student at Myer.
“With MYAC, consecutively over the past few years mental health and wellness has been a topic that we’ve been focusing on,” she said.
“One of the goals … will be to kind of move away from the stigma of it being a mental illness and hopefully … it’s more well-being and becoming a healthier person.”
The project will include a wellness summit in late November (a date has not yet been set) at Scotiabank Convention Centre where 40 students from each of the city’s five high schools, plus teachers, counsellors and public health nurses, will focus on action planning on mental wellness.
“The wellness summit will create the champions that go back and set up their committees at their schools,” said Beth Angle, community development coordinator with the city.
“Those schools will each get $1,000 to implement projects, activities and programs at their schools.”
A free and open-to-the-public evening community event will also be held the day of the wellness summit that will feature a yet-to-be-announced wellknown wellness/mental-health speaker.
The event will also be an opportunity for visitors to learn more about the services and supports provided in the schools.
As part of the project, promotional items will be created and distributed to all 4,000-plus highschool students in Niagara Falls.
While MYAC will be the project lead, it will work with District School Board of Niagara, Niagara Catholic District School Board, Niagara Region Public Health, Contact Niagara, Pathstone Mental Health, Niagara Suicide Prevention Coalition and Community Addiction Services of Niagara.
The city was successful in applying for provincial grant funding to support the project.
As part of Canada’s 150th celebrations, Grants Ontario launched several funding programs to recognize Ontario’s 150th anniversary as a province.
The Ontario150 partnership program is providing $5 million to “support new partnerships and collaborations that engage, enable and empower youth as the next generation of Ontario leaders.”
The projects are required to involve creativity and cultural expression; diversity and inclusion; environmental stewardship; youth entrepreneurship; healthy living and civic engagement. Applicants must provide at least 25 per cent of project costs with cash and in-kind contributions.
An application was submitted to the Ontario150 partnership program with a total project cost of $115,250 and a funding request of $77,550, which was granted.
The project will include $32,700 of in-kind contributions from various project partners and $5,000 in cash contributions from MYAC’s 2017 operating budget.