We believe that we are stronger together and that’s why we invest in community-based mental health initiatives through our Community Grants.
Healthy Minds Cooperative is leading Mental Health Peer Support in the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community, in partnership with 5 other agencies.
Mental illness or poor mental health often intersects with other kinds of 2SLGBTQIA+ community work. Statistics Canada states that 2SLGBTQIA+ are three times as likely as non-2SLGBTQIA+ individuals to rate their mental health as fair or poor.
This project will increase capacity to serve the 2SLGBTQIA+ community by providing training to a cohort of community members with lived experience in mental health and addiction, who work for organizations serving the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. In addition to learning new skills to serve their primary clients, the cohort will partner to host a bi-weekly virtual peer support group, accessible across the province. The training is underway and the peer support group will launch in the fall.
Program participants engaged in several peer-based trainings including Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Shown here are Cong Chen and Kathleen Watson who took vacation days so that they could facilitate ASIST. That’s how important it is to them to support their 2SLGBTQIA+ community and ensure that suicide intervention training, like mental health and suicide interventions, is delivered through a culturally appropriate lens.
“[The training helped me] sharpen the skill of identifying and strengthening the reasons a person might choose to stay alive—such as relationships, identity, or hope for the future.” – ASIST participant
Partner Agencies so far (HMC welcomes other agencies to get involved):
• Health Equity Alliance of Nova Scotia
• Wabanaki 2-Spirit Alliance
• YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth 2SLGBTQIA+ Newcomer Program
Your donation helps fund projects like this: www.mentalhealthns.ca/support
