Mental Health Archives — Lindsay Advocate

Ford government fails people on disability in move from BI to ODSP; pharmacists step in

Published on April 15, 2019 in Community/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

A local social worker is sounding the alarm over the transition for people who were collecting basic income and then returned to ODSP, which left some people on disability with a gap in medication coverage.

Karla Forgaard-Pullen, a social worker based in Lindsay, says that some of the basic income recipients who were previously on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) are on a backlogged list waiting for their return to the program to be green lit. The basic income program issued its last payment in March.

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Robertson retires after nearly 29 years at helm of Boys and Girls Club

Published on January 9, 2019 in Community/Local News by Roderick Benns

Roderick Benns recently interviewed Scott Robertson, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes. As he gets set to retire later this month after nearly 30 years at the helm, we asked him a few questions about the changes he has seen and the kids’ lives he has watched unfold over many years.

Benns: What are some key ways the Club has changed over 30 years in terms of what your organization is all about? How has the core mission evolved?

Robertson: Our mission really hasn’t changed. Today we operate under the Mission and core Values of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Even though we weren’t a Boys and Girls Club in the beginning, the Club was founded on beliefs that were very compatible.

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Ensuring mental health throughout the holidays

Published on December 4, 2018 in Community/Health/Opinion by Jack Veitch

Lindsay basic income pilot: Mental health, resilience will surely improve

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The thermostat slowly drops, snow starts to fall and people are bundling up. Wrapped in their favourite scarves, mittens and toques, people are venturing out into the brisk Canadian winter to take on the day.

Plans are being made for dinners and parties; children are scribbling down hand-written lists with hopes of receiving that one perfect gift. For many, the start of the holiday season means feelings of joy, hope and warmth. For others, it can be a completely different experience.

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Lindsay law firm strong supporters of mental health in the workplace

Published on October 31, 2018 in Around Town/Community/Health/Local News by Roderick Benns

There are 17 people at Wards Lawyers in Lindsay and those numbers will soon swell to well over 20. It’s a growing staff, in what is already the second largest law firm in central Ontario. With so many people working in one of the top five most stressful occupations, Jason Ward knew they wanted to be leaders when it came to mental health supports in the workplace.

He and Karissa – who is both his wife and his business partner – created a full time position that is part administration but also Mental Health/First Aid Officer, a certified position through the Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit.

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For the record: What did Laurie/Jamie do? (Oct. 12, 2018)

Published on October 13, 2018 in Local News by Lindsay Advocate

A calm week in the house for MPs as they did not have to sit all week and could instead focus on constituents. October 6 Local MP Jamie Schmale posted images from the ‘5th Annual Turkey Trot’ in Fenelon Falls. On October 7 he was in Bobcaygeon to celebrate the winning of the “Ontario’s Communities in Bloom”.

Oct 9, Schmale posted pictures from a meeting at Fleming College in Peterborough where he met with new president, Maureen Adamson.

October 10th Schmale posted pictures from IE Weldon in Lindsay where he met with students to discuss ‘post secondary education, employment opportunities and retention of youth in our area.’

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Navigating the mental health system for youth and families

Published on August 6, 2018 in Community/Health by Trevor Hutchinson

A mom and dad wait to talk to the crisis nurse in Lindsay’s Ross Memorial Hospital about their child, who has been brought to the emergency room several times for mental health situations in the last few months. The parents have been up all night and it shows: their eyes are clearly red and swollen from another night of crying and worrying, their brows wrinkled from another night of explaining — again — the situation to first responders.

Acronyms, diagnoses and waiting lists are duly recited with exhausted clarity — they sound and look like flood victims who have protected their home with a three-foot wall of sandbags (built exactly to recommended specifications) to stop a swollen river that’s six feet high and rising.

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Basic Income gone: Ford’s abrupt cancellation of program devastates Lindsay

Published on August 1, 2018 in Opinion/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

All over Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford promised over and over that “a new day will dawn in Ontario,” should he be elected, “for the people.”

Well, here’s his new day dawning for about 2,000 people who live in Lindsay, their lives just starting to be changed for the better by basic income — and it’s not the kind of day they were expecting.

Here’s his new day dawning for Roseanne Johnson who says she can’t survive without that money, and that she and her son will “soon be on the streets.” Or Lauretta Blackman who saw her grandchildren for the first time because she finally had enough money for transportation.

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Fenelon Falls High, CMHA partner in mental health pilot

Published on July 5, 2018 in Community/Health/Opinion by Jack Veitch

We all have mental health. Regardless of our age, life experience or background, it’s something we all live with. Our mental health is like a spectrum, a continuum that can move fluidly between being mentally well, or potentially mentally ill. There are a variety of factors that dictate how we move on that continuum— things such as genetics, our life experiences and even our lifestyles (sleep, diet, exercise etc.). We know that the earlier we can work to build skills and resiliency, the much greater rates of mental wellness we can experience. This begs the question, what is being done in our community to support youth mental health?

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Are the kids alright? Youth mental health in Kawartha Lakes

Published on May 5, 2018 in Community/Health by Trevor Hutchinson

You are driving past a school play yard and you see thirty kids playing on the school field at recess. According to widely-accepted figures, at least six of those kids you see – all sons, daughters, grandkids, cousins, neighbours, members of our community – will suffer or are suffering from some sort of mental health issue, be it anxiety, trauma, a mood disorder, or an emotional, social and behavioural issue.

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In the homestretch: About ten per cent of town soon to collect a Basic Income

Published on March 21, 2018 in Around Town/Community/Poverty Reduction by Roderick Benns

By April 16, about 2,000 Lindsay residents will be on the Ontario Basic Income Pilot – will you be one of them?

That’s the cut-off date the Province is imposing on any new basic income sign-ups. Those sign-ups have been happening every week for months now, held alternately at Celebrations and the Lindsay branch of Kawartha Lakes Public Library.