Here at CMHA York Region and South Simcoe we are so proud of and grateful to our amazing volunteers! They are a key part of our making our mission, Mental Health for All, a reality. During the pandemic, the services we offer largely shifted online and so too did our volunteers. Their continued support was critical to ensuring that we could continue to serve our clients and their families as needed.
Volunteers at CMHA-YRSS fill many critical roles such as:
- Administrative support: Helping CMHA-YRSS keep up with the ever-growing need for mental health support by working behind the scenes along with staff
- Client Engagement: Client engagement surveys
- Committees: The Quality and Safety Committee, Board of Directors, Philanthropy Committee and Client and Family Advisor Group
- Education and Advocacy: Connecting with all types of audiences, increasing their knowledge of mental health, and providing support to youth (Choices and Community Education and Training)
- Program support: Designing and running activities for clients with all sorts of backgrounds, includes special interest groups for youth, 2SLGBTQ members and others (Community Connections, Support for Depression, Family/Caregiver Education)
- Special events: CMHA-YRSS has many events throughout the year and can always use volunteers to help, especially at our annual #MentalHealthinMotion event each June
Our volunteers live through our York Region and South Simcoe, some have personal experiences with mental health challenges, while others have been there for friends and family who are struggling and others simply seek to give back to their community. No matter their stories we value their generous gift of time.
Before the pandemic a common statistic you may have seen was that one in five Canadians are currently experiencing a mental health problem or illness and by age 40, about 50 per cent of the population will have or have had a mental illness. We are sad to say that during these two years those numbers have increased significantly.
We depend on our volunteers to meet the ever increasing need for our services and are so thankful every day for their willingness to give of themselves to support others.
If we would like to be counted among these amazing people who support CMHA YRSS in creating a reality in which mental health care is available to all in need please visit our volunteer page to get started today.