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Mental health hub connects community

When asked what she enjoys most about her role as a community engagement co-ordinator and peer navigator at the Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre located in the lobby of North Vancouver’s HOpe Centre (offering in- and out-patient mental hea

When asked what she enjoys most about her role as a community engagement co-ordinator and peer navigator at the Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre located in the lobby of North Vancouver’s HOpe Centre (offering in- and out-patient mental health services), Bita Ardakani says it’s the opportunity to arm people with information, helping to instill a sense of hope.

“If you don’t have hope, then there’s nothing else,” she says.

Regularly staffing the resource centre, which offers free mental health information, community resources and support, means Ardakani engages directly with community members, including those diagnosed with mental illness, those interested in supporting a loved one in their recovery journey, as well as service providers looking to point clients in the right direction.

“People come through with teary eyes and they don’t really know what to do. They feel really helpless and have no hope. And just by sitting down and talking to them, that makes a big difference,” she says.

“A lot of times people are frustrated with trying to get help or sometimes they come in and their family is upstairs and they have no idea what’s happening to them, so just talking to them and telling them what exists in the system and how the system works is very helpful,” she adds.

The Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre had a soft opening last year and was officially opened in May thanks to support from the Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation, which was created by Whistler’s Kerry and Ginny Dennehy who lost their son, Kelty, in 2001 at age 17 as a result of depression. The foundation also helped establish the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre at B.C. Children’s Hospital, a provincial resource centre offering information, resources and peer support to people of all ages across the province.

“One of the things that Kerry and Ginny wanted to do was to provide access to information, which they had not been able to find for themselves when their own son was dealing with his mental health issues,” says Sandra Severs, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association North and West Vancouver branch. The branch operates the North Shore resource centre, and receives additional support from Vancouver Coastal Health, the North Vancouver City Library and the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation.

“We’ve done information and referral for years out of our main office. Our receptionist responds to telephone calls on a continuous basis. The advantage of having this here is it provides that face-to-face access for people who are in need of information. … I think just having that kind of standalone place on the North Shore is really valuable,” says Severs.

The Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre offers in-person support from peer navigators, trained individuals with personal experience with mental illness, as well as manages inquiries by phone and email. Visitors to the centre are encouraged to browse the variety of available resources, including books they can check out on a variety of mental health topics, ranging from Aboriginal resources to eating disorders, made possible through a partnership with North Vancouver City Library.

“The library collection here is a result of conversations with the City of North Vancouver public library who helped us get it set up and who share with us a database. You can be a patron of a library of the North Shore and come here and borrow books using your library card. You can search for items specific to mental health and have them identified in the city’s library system, which says they’re part of the HOpe collection. We’ve been intentional about creating that,” says Severs.

Centre visitors are also encouraged to browse information on community mental health resources, learn about the local mental health system overall, as well as find out more about upcoming educational events, support group meetings and workshops, many of which are offered out of the centre – art, walking, knitting, piano mini-lesson, and Farsi-speaking groups included. All of the upcoming events are listed on the resource centre’s website (hopementalhealth.ca/events).

“Bita’s done really great work at pulling in community resources so that it’s not just what CMHA offers or even what this space is, it’s that we can point people to other resources in the community. Sometimes in a system that’s really confusing to navigate, it’s good to have a place where you know that there’s some intentional effort made to find out what else is being offered across the North Shore,” says Severs.

The CMHA is currently looking to the community to help flesh out the lending library and available resources in advance of next year’s anticipated opening of the Carlile Youth Concurrent Disorders Centre in the HOpe Centre.

“One of our challenges I think now moving forward is this building has been for adult mental health and for us now to actually make sure that we have the resources available for families of adolescents who are dealing with mental illness and substance abuse,” says Severs.

“We’re in a process of development here, in terms of building out the collection and the things that we are able to do. Our operating funding is provided in part by Vancouver Coastal Health, but also donations. ... VCH pays for most of the staffing, but building out the resources, the website and the library collection depends on the generosity of the North Shore community. There are opportunities there,” she adds.

For more information on the Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre or to offer a donation, visit hopementalhealth.ca.