GUELPH – The Grove Wellington Guelph has accomplished much this year in addressing the mental health concerns of the community.
The Grove is a one-stop-shop for youth aged 12 to 26 designed to meet a wide range of needs, including mental health, substance use, primary care, education, employment, training, housing and other community and social services.
This month, The Grove Wellington Guelph is asking the community to continue to support its mental health and wellbeing services for youth through financial donations.
Thanks to the community’s support, it has been able to accomplish much this year.
In 2022, the sites saw over 22,000 youth visits in Guelph and Wellington County.
Guelph site
In June 2022, The Grove Wellington Guelph opened a new site at the University of Guelph.
The Guelph site was the sixth opened across Guelph and Wellington County.
This was a milestone for the area as the community has seen a significant increase in the need for youth mental health support.
With the addition of this site, mental health supports have become more accessible to local youth.
Youth mental health
In September 2022, CMHA Waterloo Wellington, The Grove Wellington Guelph and The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington hosted a Youth Mental Health Forum.
The goal of the forum was to discuss mental health and wellness in the community and develop actionable steps to ensure there is awareness of the resources, services and supports available to youth across the region.
The Youth Mental Health Forum involved over 200 participants and heard from youth, mental health experts and government officials on the current state of mental health in the community, and what the future of mental health and wellness support could look like in Guelph and Wellington County.
High demand for services
Of the 46,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 26 living in Guelph and Wellington County, it is estimated 80 per cent are now in need of mental health and wellness services.
The work of The Grove Wellington Guelph has been instrumental in addressing these issues, officials say.
Workshops
This year, The Grove Wellington Guelph introduced the Family Engagement Workshops to help parents and caregivers become more involved in the mental health and wellness journey of their youth.
It also hosted open house tours for parents and caregivers to see where their youth were spending time.
Ongoing need
Until Dec. 31, The Grove Wellington Guelph is inviting the community to continue to support youth wellness across Wellington County and Guelph to help kick start new initiatives in 2023.
All donations made will be matched by Linamar, a manufacturing company, meaning that community members will have the opportunity to double their impact this holiday season.
Donations
Donations can be made online at www.thegrovehubs.ca, by mail (The Grove Wellington Guelph, 900 Tower St. S., Fergus, ON, N1M 3N7) or by phone 833-43-GROVE.
For more information about The Grove Wellington Guelph, visit www.thegrovehubs.ca.
