April saw the beginnings of our next CSC chapter; and the creation of our online youthexperts cohort. We opened the application to youth across Canada who have a plan or initiative they want to bring to life in their own communities, and the applicants came pouring in! Because of the current climate, we decided the online forum was the best way to still be proactive and keep everyone healthy. We read through applicants and had to readjust our original ideas to accommodate the ever changing realities of social distancing. We were soon able to put our team together and got the Zoom meetings rolling.
Something else that was going down behind the scenes was the creation of a Mental Health needs assessment. This was developed and sent out to determine the mental health needs and assets of project participants and frontline staff during their program involvement in order to guide the development of a coalition-wide mental health support strategy. From the start of this project, we wanted to ensure that all of the partnering organizations and those involved had the appropriate understanding and resources to support the mental health needs of youth. Read the report here, available in English and French Canada Service Corps Mental Health Supports: Needs Assessment Report.
We are so excited to shift into May and begin our weekly online meetings with our newest youth team. This is a group of mental health change makers who are passionate, skilled, and ready to make waves. We cannot wait to get started!!!