To acknowledge the importance of Mental Illness Awareness Week, which ran Oct. 2 to 8, RBC announced that over $1.5 million has been committed to children’s mental health programs across southwestern Ontario.
The donations will support a number of organizations across the region and are part of 108 organizations from across the country to receive an RBC children’s mental health grant.
The RBC children’s mental health project is the cornerstone of RBC’s Health and Wellness donations program
The is a multi-year philanthropic commitment to programs that reduce stigma, provide early intervention and increase public awareness about children’s mental health issues. One in five Canadians will experience mental illness during their lifetime and many of those disorders begin in childhood or adolescence.
“At RBC, we are passionate about helping our communities and one of our key focuses is supporting children’s mental health causes,” said Laura Gainey, RBC’s regional president for Ontario southwest.
“We want to give youngsters a great start so that they are able to cope and live productive lives. We are thrilled to be partnering with leading organizations that do so much for our youth in southwestern Ontario and this donation will help us achieve that goal.”
Through the project, RBC will create a network of organizations and experts in the children’s mental health field that are trusted sources of information for parents and caregivers who may not know where to turn to for help.
The network will include the RBC children’s mental health advisory panel, made up of nine mental health experts, as well as the grant recipients, which currently includes over 100 hospitals and health care organizations across the country that are specialists in mental health issues, related to children.
2011 Southwestern Ontario donation recipients
· Oakville Hospital Foundation
· St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation, Hamilton
· Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation
· Trellis Mental Health, Guelph & Fergus
· Lutherwood, Waterloo
· Vanier Children’s Services, London
· Pathstone, St. Catharines
· St. Leonard’s Society, Brantford
· Woodstock and District Developmental Services
· Maryvale Adolescent and Family Services, Windsor
· Pathways Health Centre for Children, Sarnia
About the RBC children’s mental health project
The project is a multi-year philanthropic commitment to support community-based and hospital programs that reduce stigma, provide early intervention and increase public awareness about children’s mental health issues.
Since 2009, the project has donated more than $6.5 million to more than 125 organizations across Canada. Grant applications are accepted year-round from eligible organizations. For more information, visit www.rbc.com/childrensmentalhealth.
