Building A Village of Care

#ReachOutSaltSpring is one of the projects of the Mental Wellness Initiative (MWI), a partnership of the Salt Spring Health Advancement Network and the Salt Spring Community Health Society. 

It all begins with purpose.

Through the Mental Wellness Initiative, #ReachOutSaltSpring’s “Big Why” is co-creating a community of caring and belonging.

We exist to offer counseling and other services to community members who could not otherwise afford these services, making for a more caring and inclusive community. Supporting all community members - providers, and marginalized users alike, to engender mental well-being for all.

Our 4-Pillar Mission

  • Bringing together the Salt Spring Island community, with an emphasis on providers, users, and marginalized members so we may mobilize cooperatively around issues of and needs for mental wellness

  • Creating healthy group culture to enable the co-creation of a mental wellness framework and coalition for effective coordination, collaboration, responsiveness to existing conditions

  • Enabling cohesive and personalized mental wellness services building towards healthy and inclusive community

  • Co-creating a community in which everyone belongs - recognizing that each person’s needs are unique and that treating them as an individual is essential

Background - This work is based on numerous reports, interviews, and discussions with providers, service users, and community members,  as well as the Salt Spring Island Community Health Society’s Needs Assessment Report (Sept 2019) centered around mental health needs in the community.

The #ReachOutSaltSpring Project aspires to:

Build on the good work already occurring in the community offered by providers, community organizations and community members

Support equity deserving (‘marginalized”) community members

Provide a centralized website of services available to Salt Spring residents and personal support to help navigate the website

Mobilize our community around needs for mental wellness supports: physical health services, counselling, coaching, peer support and other services

Address long wait times for individuals seeking support and for those who could do with additional strategies by tapping into the resource of trained individuals in the community

Serve the community - amplifying the voices of those who feel lost, alone or unheard, supporting providers, supporting enhanced service - community advocacy