Seeking Timely and Flexible Mental Health Support with CMHA - Weyburn Branch
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – Weyburn Branch provides a variety of recovery-focused mental health programs for people of all ages and their families. The Weyburn Branch has five priority service delivery areas including advocacy, psycho-social programming, public education, vocational rehabilitation services, and youth programming.
Tasha Collins, Program Director at CMHA – Weyburn Branch explains how the organization has evolved over the years. She says, “back in 2011 when I started at CMHA mental health wasn’t something many people talked about or were aware of, so we used to do a lot of activities and events to build awareness of mental health and what we do in the community. We have seen a lot of growth in understanding the need for mental health services in our community.”
CMHA’s awareness has grown over the years while programming has also expanded. However, Collins notes challenges to find funding that is not tied to specific projects. They are limited to applying for projects aligning with available grant opportunities. The projects they deliver with grant funding are impactful, but Collins notes that the impact could be even greater if the funds were directed differently.
“I find that when funding is specific to a certain program it can be difficult to retain staff because their positions are project specific instead of permanent. If we see success in a project and want to expand it, we must find more funding to continue to staff and expand it. If the funding isn’t available, then the projects cannot be delivered and we lose that staff capacity,” Collins explains.
“we could do some incredible things if we could get extra funding towards our core operations each year. It would create a whole new opportunity for us to expand services where they are needed most and be more proactive. For example, if someone walks into our office today asking for immediate help, we don’t have a therapist or counsellor on staff. Instead, we refer them to Mental Health and Addictions Services with SHA, where they must wait for a call back. A person who is reaching out for help today might spiral downward while waiting and then need acute care. If someone could make a connection with them right away and support them while they are waiting for a call back from SHA, they would be in a safer situation.”
CMHA – Weyburn Branch can often find funding for activities but cannot easily secure funding for staff members to consistently deliver those activities. Collins has hope that with more flexible funding options they can continue to grow their services and better help the people of Weyburn at their most crucial times of need.
