The post New Survey Shows 68% Of Canadian Parents Indicate Their Children Face Social Challenges At School appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>Through fall 2024, this initiative will see the Cheestrings logo on each individual product wrapper replaced with the Kids Help Phone 24/7 free, confidential e-mental health service number on the iconic snack to generate awareness of the crisis line. The No Lonely Lunches initiative encourages parents to use the snack as a point of discussion on emotional issues with their own children. Further, the Kids Help Phone-branded Cheestrings also provide children with a means of extending an olive branch to a peer experiencing a lonely lunch by using the snack as a conversation starter or as a simple way to share the important mental health resource.
The Cheestrings survey commissioned by Fuse Insights surveyed 500 Canadian parents with kids between the ages of 10-17. The survey also found:
“Back to school can be a difficult time for children, especially during lunchtime,” said Elyse Horrigan, Brand Manager, Cheestrings – Ficello. “With the research showing that snacks can be a good icebreaker, Cheestrings is pleased to partner with Kids Help Phone on the No Lonely Lunches campaign that encourages conversation over a Cheestrings snack.”
“Peer relationships and isolation are some of the top issues young people are reaching to KHP about. More so, our Kids Help Phone data shows that one in three young people who reach out to our service via text feel distressed at the thought of going back to school,” said Jenny Yuen, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships for Kids Help Phone. “Having a safe space to Feel Out Loud can be an important step to showing youth they’re not alone. We’re proud to launch this campaign together with our partners at Lactalis Canada to help and reduce the stigma of mental health challenges and promote help-seeking behaviour among youth, particularly this back-to-school season.”
As part of Cheestrings’ commitment to raising awareness of Kids Help Phone, the campaign will also feature online and out of home advertising with eye-catching, thought-provoking illustrations highlighting some of the challenges kids face today. Cheestrings will also donate $100,000 to Kids Help Phone to help ensure young people in Canada continue to have 24/7 mental health support when they need it most.
Throughout the fall, Canadians can purchase the No Lonely Lunches-related Cheestrings at major grocery retailers across Canada. To learn more about Cheestrings’ collaboration with Kids Help Phone, visit cheestrings.ca/en/giving-back.
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]]>The post Government Of Canada Announces Kids Help Phone As 9-8-8 Network Partner appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>In July, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $156 million over three years to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for the implementation and operation of 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline, building on their experience delivering Talk Suicide Canada.
Today, the Honourable Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction and Associate Minister of Health, announced that Kids Help Phone has signed a service agreement with CAMH and will join the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline network. Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, confidential support to young people in English and French. Kids Help Phone will provide specialized support to young people who reach out to 9-8-8.
As of November 30, 2023, 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline will be available in English and French, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, to everyone in Canada. The 9-8-8 service will offer trauma-informed and culturally appropriate suicide prevention services and will be delivered by trained crisis responders using best practices, procedures and protocols. Implementation and delivery of the 9-8-8 service will continue to be informed by ongoing engagement with provinces and territories, and organizations representing populations most affected by suicide.
By joining the 9-8-8 network, partners will continue to provide support to their communities, both through their existing crisis services and by taking calls and texts from 9-8-8. When someone reaches out to 9-8-8, wherever possible, they will be connected to the responder that is closest to them, based on their area code. A robust national Hub will provide additional capacity, taking calls and texts when a local responder is not available.
While work is underway to implement 9-8-8, people in Canada continue to have access to Talk Suicide Canada, which offers bilingual crisis and suicide prevention support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Talk Suicide can be reached at 1-833-456-4566 by phone, and by text (in the evenings) at 45645. Residents of Quebec can call 1-866-277-3553, text 535353, or visit suicide.ca for support by online chat. People in Canada can also find support from their local crisis or distress lines. Young people across Canada, including children, teenagers and young adults, can also reach out to Kids Help Phone for mental health support by phone, at 1-800-668-6868, or by text, at 686868.
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]]>The post BMO Walk So Kids Can Talk In Support Of Kids Help Phone Raises Over $3.5M appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>From coast to coast to coast over 12,000 kids, adults, community organizations and corporations came together in person and virtually to take part in Canada’s largest walk supporting youth mental health and well-being. The $3.4 million fundraising goal this year was surpassed, with communities and BMO employees raising a total of $3.5 Million and counting for the expansion of Kids Help Phone services.
This year, a record number of Team BMO members participated, with nearly 10,000 employees, family and friends taking part, representing an incredible 80 per cent of the total registrants for the Walk. Funds raised were also up 27 per cent from 2022, highest ever since BMO started participating in 2013.
“We are inspired by our communities who came together this weekend to raise awareness and funds for mental health support services for young people,” said Cameron Fowler, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, BMO. “BMO’s commitment to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life and continue making progress for an inclusive society aligns with our long-standing partnership with Kids Help Phone. Participation in this Walk helps send the critical message to young people across the country that their well-being is important. Thank you to the organizers, volunteers and participants who helped make this walk such a success from coast to coast to coast.”
BMO has been a partner of Kids Help Phone since its founding and continues to support its mission to transform Canada’s youth mental health ecosystem. Since 1989, BMO and its employees have raised more than $40 million for Kids Help Phone. Earlier this year, BMO pledged $15 million to the Kids Help Phone‘s #FeelOutLoud campaign, a historic, national movement anchored by a fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $300 million to expand access to e-mental services for young people in every corner of Canada by 2024. BMO Walk so Kids Can Talk and the recent investment in the #FeelOutLoud campaign reinforces BMO’s mission to keep Boldly Growing the Good in business and in life.
“It’s incredible to see families, friends and colleagues come together all across Canada and rally the much-needed support for youth mental health,” said Katherine Hay, President and CEO, Kids Help Phone. “There is a crisis for youth and mental health right now and this event galvanizes a country in support of young people as the demand for youth mental health services increases every single day. Thank you Team BMO and participants across Canada for ensuring there’s a place for young people to feel out loud about any issue, and any feeling, no matter how big or small, without judgement.”
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 multilingual, national e-mental health service offering professional counselling, live chat, volunteer-led text-based support as well as information and referrals for young people. KHP has many different free and confidential access points and platforms for young people to reach out, as young as 5 – 27, including professional phone counselling available now in over 100 languages. The donations raised from the Walk are crucial to maintaining this valuable service and ensuring every young person can access the support they need in the way they need it most.
If you or someone you know needs support call 1-800-668-6868 or visit call https://kidshelpphone.ca/call.
To donate to the BMO Walk so Kids Can Talk and #FeelOutLoud campaign, visit https://kidshelpphone.akaraisin.com/ui/bmowalksokidscantalk/pledge/sponsor/start
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]]>The post Kids Help Phone Launches Largest Youth Mental Health Movement appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>As part of today’s announcement, Kids Help Phone’s founding partners Bell Canada and BMO Financial Group have each pledged a transformational investment of $15 million to this movement. Their commitment will allow Kids Help Phone to scale e-mental health access to support in communities across Canada. Further, Mirko Bibic, President and CEO, BCE and Bell Canada and Darryl White, CEO of BMO Financial Group stand as Honourary Co-Chairs of the Feel Out Loud Campaign Cabinet.
Young people have connected with Kids Help Phone more than 14 million times since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as Canada’s only national free, confidential, 24/7, multilingual e-mental health service dedicated to youth.
The primary concerns of youth seeking mental health support are anxiety and stress, relationship issues, depression, suicidal thoughts, and feelings of isolation. These concerns have become increasingly complex over time, necessitating additional support. For instance, according to data from Kids Help Phone, individuals who experience racism are among the most distressed service users, second only to those who fear harm in their home.
Additionally, these young people who experience racism are more likely to express suicidal ideation. Feel Out Loud is the most significant and urgent movement for youth mental health in Canada’s history, rallying the entire country to invest in youth mental health, shaping the future for young people in Canada. As technology continues to change, Kids Help Phone will scale its e-mental health coverage and realize a future where every young person in Canada can access safe and trusted support without obstacles, especially those who face barriers to accessing mental health supports to meet a diversity of need and issues. The $300 million raised will allow Kids Help Phone to:
To kick off the campaign, Artists for Feel Out Loud, a collective of 50+ music artists from across Canada, have come together to record an anthem in support of Kids Help Phone’s initiative to help all young people in Canada feel out loud and express their emotions in a safe and supported way. Music produced by Bob Ezrin and executive produced by Randy Lennox (Loft Entertainment) and Carrie Mudd (Peacock Alley Entertainment), the anthem titled “What I Wouldn’t Do (North Star Calling)” weaves Serena Ryder’s inspiring message and profound lyrics from the song “What I Wouldn’t Do” with Leela Gilday’s sonically beautiful bridge from “North Star Calling'”. The anthem’s accompanying music video, produced by Peacock Alley Entertainment, is also available today at 12 p.m. EST will have its broadcast premiere on March 4, 2023 on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app at 8 p.m. EST ahead of the Buffy Sainte-Marie documentary, Carry it On.
Now more than ever, Feel Out Loud calls on philanthropists, corporations, community organizations, extraordinary individuals and families to realize this goal of $300 million.
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]]>The post Giant Tiger And Kids Help Phone Partner To Create A Pink Shirt To Support Anti-Bullying Day appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering young people free, confidential support in English and French. As the country’s virtual care expert, Kids Help Phone offers millions of youth support in any moment of need, through phone, text, and online services. No feeling is too big or too small. People of Canada can connect any time at KidsHelpPhone.ca
“Giant Tiger is committed to helping youth across Canada access mental health support services and is proud to partner with Kids Help Phone to create an exclusive pink shirt,” said Patrick Cadieux, General Manager Marketing, Giant Tiger Stores Limited. “Each shirt comes with a detachable Kids Help Phone contact card that can be shared or saved for future use. The unique feature ensures that our charitable merchandise campaigns can further access to youth mental health support. This is just one of the tangible ways that Giant Tiger stores and customers are creating positive change in the communities we call home.”
“We are grateful to Giant Tiger for their ongoing support raising awareness and funds for youth mental health. The exclusive pink shirt shines a light on the issue of bullying and offers a moment of education for young people and caring adults” says Jenny Yuen, Senior Vice President, National Partnerships, Kids Help Phone. “Thank you for your ongoing partnership.”
Since 2004, Giant Tiger has donated over $280,000 to support the development and delivery of Kids Help Phone’s services including crisis response texting, professional counselling, Crisis Text Line, Live Chat counselling, and Peer-to-Peer programs across the country.
For more information on Kids Help Phone and the custom-designed shirts, please visit www.gianttiger.com/pages/event-anti-bullying-day
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]]>The post Kids Help Phone Expands Mental Health Services To Support Afghan And Ukrainian Newcomers appeared first on Muskoka411.
]]>As approximately half of the newcomers fleeing from conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine are young people, Kids Help Phone identified an urgent need to provide a safe space to speak about their experiences. Kids Help Phone scaled to provide professional phone counselling service, via interpreter, in Dari, Pashto, Russian, and Ukrainian – the first mental health organization to do so in Canada.
The national youth mental health charity has accelerated the launch of these four languages as part of an immediate crisis response to support young people impacted by the conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine. This language expansion is made possible thanks to funding from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), who has generously funded Newcomer Initiatives with the introduction of phone counselling in Arabic and Mandarin at Kids Help Phone since 2019 and extended funding to scale to 100 languages by 2025.
Kids Help Phone supports young people in every province and territory in Canada. As the only national, 24/7 mental health service in French and English for young people in Canada, the organization knows first-hand that for many young people, seeking mental health support is not always easy to do. There can be stigma for seeking support, and many young people, including newcomers, may not have the language to understand or describe how they are feeling. By launching in-language counselling services for Afghan and Ukrainian newcomers, Kids Help Phone hopes to better serve these brave young people escaping conflict.
“The lives of so many young people have been turned upside down through having to leave, or even flee, their countries. It’s heartbreaking to think about what these young people are going through and how uncertain they may feel. We believe in a future where every young person in Canada can access the support they need, in the way they need it most,” said Katherine Hay, President & CEO of Kids Help Phone. “To make e-mental health support more accessible through language for any young person across Canada is an important step in ensuring equitable access for those who may be most vulnerable. We appreciate the support and the vision of IRCC to enable the expansion of Kids Help Phone’s language offerings to meet a critical need today, with a view of further expansion of more languages in the coming months.”
“Canada has a proud tradition of welcoming and supporting the world’s most vulnerable. In order to adjust to life in Canada, we need to ensure that newcomers have access to resources to cope with past trauma and rebuild their lives. Creating this culturally-sensitive, accessible safe space is especially important when it comes to vulnerable youth, and this funding will ensure that those fleeing conflict—including Afghans and Ukrainians—have the support they need to reach their full potential while in Canada.” The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Providing in-language counselling in new languages allows Kids Help Phone to be responsive to the needs of refugees coming to Canada in higher numbers. Kids Help Phone stands in solidarity with the millions of people in Canada who have risen to the cause, and is working with settlement service provider organizations to spread the word around our language expansion.
When a young person calls 1-800-668-6868 and presses 3 they will be connected to an interpreter and a professional counsellor. Session will be conducted via interpreter.
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