Great news out of Calgary – and news we hope is replicated in B.C. – as the $39M Marian and Jim Sinneave Centre for Youth Resilience, opened Monday. This facility will help 8,000 kids a year deal with mental health issues.
The centre, which will augment the work being done at Alberta Children’s Hospital, will provide three programs — no-cost, walk-in therapy sessions; services to address escalating symptoms to keep youth out of acute care; and a day hospital to transition patients out of round-the-clock treatment.
Construction was funded through private donations, but Alberta taxpayers will pay $10 million a year in operating money.
As ICBA’s President Chris Gardner and Wellness ambassador Corey Hirsch wrote last year in the Vancouver Sun, we need more mental health supports and funding:
“A system of support, intervention and help must be there whenever and wherever someone reaches out, asking for help to make it just one more day. For far too long, government has failed to make the investments required to build that network. It’s time to stop turning our collective backs on people in crisis and make the investments required to save people, families and communities.”
For families in Alberta, the Sinneave Centre is a step toward that goal.
Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 90 companies and nearly 10,000 construction professionals better understand mental health. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.