If we say mental health help is on its way for Indigenous people, we’d better mean it
The country was horrified when the remains of 215 children were discovered in an unmarked grave at the site of a residential school in Kamloops, B.C. This gave Canadians pause about what kind of country they live in; it also brought a terrible sinking feeling, a...
Month over month, people in BC continue to lose their lives to the poisoned drug supply in record numbers
Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, has released the following statement regarding the BC Coroners Service’s report on illicit drug toxicity deaths for April 2021: “Month over month, people in British Columbia continue to lose their lives to...
Campbell River students welcome homeless to the neighbourhood
When a $10.4 million supportive housing project for the homeless was announced in Campbell River, it wasn’t completely popular with local residents. “Neighbours were concerned, businesses in the area too, and a lot was mentioned about the neighbouring schools in the...
Here’s our VIMHS Currents newsletter for May 2021
Take the Virtual Mission Challenge and support local organizations... Why words matter: The negative impacts of racial microaggressions... VIMHS updates from Nanaimo to Campbell River... Calming your inner world... Homelessness in Nanaimo: How does it compare with...
‘An immense toll’: 498 deaths from poisoned drugs this year in B.C.
Nearly 500 people in British Columbia have died of poisoned drugs in the first three months of 2021 alone, signalling no slow in fatalities on the heels of the province’s most fatal year on record. March saw 158 lives lost across the province, 40 per cent more than...
Recent Posts
For People First Media audio, please follow the link to the post.
VIMHS NEWS
16 Days of Activism campaign aims to eliminate gender-based violence
Orange the world – it’s the message being spread during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. The campaign begins on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and runs until December 10, World Human...
Here’s our VIMHS Currents newsletter for November 2020
It’s that giving time of year…VIMHS updates from Campbell River and Nanaimo…Stats, infographics, and the continuum of housing…COVID stress syndrome…Mental health challenges among women and girls who are homeless…and more. Download a PDF copy of our...
Bridge housing and supportive housing in Campbell River
Provinces across Canada face similar issues as attempts are made to provide housing to homeless citizens. In British Columbia, the provincial government is acting on several fronts, across a spectrum of programs, from emergency shelters to temporary, transitional, and...
MEDIA SCAN
Two-thirds of B.C. youth struggling with mental health during the pandemic, new research shows
Two-thirds of children and youth in British Columbia are struggling with mild to moderate mental health challenges during the pandemic, up from one third before the arrival of COVID-19, says new research from B.C. Children’s Hospital. “This information is going to be...
Not depressed, but not flourishing: How ‘languishing’ became the dominant feeling of 2021
Fourteen months after COVID-19 first thrust the world into lockdown, many of us feel like a plant drooping in a pot: devoid of water, wilting, withered and weak. Our motivation has dulled and a constant state of blah-ness has taken over. “It’s the middle ground...
$4 billion in new funding for health, mental-health and pandemic response
B.C.’s finance minister announced $4 billion in new funding over three years for enhancements in health, mental health and pandemic response, as she delivered her first budget on Monday. The majority of the funding, $3.1 billion over three years, goes toward health...
PEOPLE FIRST MEDIA
Poet puts pen to paper for journey into mental wellness
AUDIO | Ryan Antooa is a creative – through and through. He's a creative artist, photographer, graphic designer, copywriter, dancer, freelance creative director – and he’s also a poet. Ryan’s poetry appeared in print for the first time in a book called Better In Tune...
Gender Journeys program to include support, education and outreach
AUDIO | Society still isn’t built to be accepting of people who don’t identify as their gender assigned at birth. But attitudes are starting to change for the better. Things like government forms and identification, too, are beginning to include gender identities...
Just one strong emotion away: Conspiracy theories and misinformation
AUDIO | Misinformation is not new, and propaganda has been part of political communication since the dawn of politics. While misinformation can be spread by government and corporate public relations officials, celebrities and international bad actors, it is enabled...
