Who is homeless? Why? What is being done to help? What can I do?
AUDIO | Homelessness is a huge problem in North America – and all over the world. But who is homeless? Why? What is being done to address the situation? What can I do? These questions and many more are addressed in Shelter, a book for readers aged nine to 12 and the...
Bell Let’s Talk: A catalyst for support and self-disclosure, or corporate greed?
AUDIO | For years, the stigma around depression has caused many to suffer in silence. Since its launch by Canadian telecommunications giant Bell Canada in 2010, the Bell Let’s Talk campaign has aimed to change the narrative around mental health. But Bell itself has...
VIMHS is hiring staff for a sobering and assessment centre in Nanaimo
Vancouver Island Mental Health Society is hiring a Sobering and Assessment Centre coordinator and workers for a new program in Nanaimo. The Sobering and Assessment Centre Coordinator oversees the day-to-day operations of the centre by providing supervision of staff...
VIMHS is hiring a Housing and Program Manager in Nanaimo
VIMHS is hiring! We are looking for qualified candidates for a variety of positions for a new program in Nanaimo, including a housing and program manager. The housing and program manager works in partnership with the operations manager to oversee and administer VIMHS...
Here’s our Currents newsletter for December 2021
The spirit of generosity...The season of giving has arrived…thank you for your help! VIMHS and the year that was…Personal story: “Now I live in the shelter system”…16 days of activism against gender-based violence…Campbell River’s housing crisis…People First Radio’s...
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VIMHS NEWS
Here’s our Currents newsletter for December 2021
The spirit of generosity...The season of giving has arrived…thank you for your help! VIMHS and the year that was…Personal story: “Now I live in the shelter system”…16 days of activism against gender-based violence…Campbell River’s housing crisis…People First Radio’s...
VIMHS is hiring a program manager for Campbell River
The Campbell River (CR) Program Manager works in partnership with the CR Operations Manager to oversee and administer VIMHS services in Campbell River. The CR Program Manager is responsible for the overall program operations, focusing on client service delivery and...
Mental Illness Awareness Week is October 3 to 9, 2021
The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health is proud to launch the 2021 Mental Illness Awareness Week on October 3, 2021. This annual national public education campaign is designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. The...
MEDIA SCAN
‘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...
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...
PEOPLE FIRST MEDIA
Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of housing instability for women and children in Canada
In Canada, intimate partner violence is the leading cause of housing instability for women and children. Approximately 30% of Canada’s homeless population are women, 91% of whom have also endured some form of violence or assault in their lifetime. Organizations...
Single mom struggles to find housing in Campbell River
Kandi Keller has lived most of her life in Campbell River. She’s been a single mom for 16 years and was steadily employed until health issues left her on disability supports. Kandi recently faced another enormous challenge -- the loss of the family’s rental home --...
Overdose responders with lived experience are especially susceptible to burnout
Five years into British Columbia’s opioid-involved overdose public health emergency, the emotional and psychological burden carried by those responding to overdoses is increasing. The total deaths from overdoses in May 2021 bring total fatalities for 2021 up to 851,...
