SHARE Canada

Resources for self-harm: http://www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu/resources.html

Got an art project you’ve never finished? Come join us on July 7th and de-stress with art! This session will provide a dedicated time for you to start, continue... or finish your art project, with soothing and inspiring music in the background. The first 30 minutes of the session will be general support group check-ins, and the art activity will take place in the latter half of the session. Our schedule and the Zoom registration link can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yb5wxf3u

Here’s some BC resources you may want handy. I would also add the AAC (Access & Assessment Centre at VGH) - (604) 675-3700, 803 W12th Ave.

This news regarding Mona Wong has been extremely difficult for our team at SHARE. Our thoughts are with her and we stand by her. We are collectively feeling anger, disgust, sadness and fear. It has taken us a while to make this post, as this is something that needs time to process, careful thinking and levelheadedness. With events going on all over the nation and continent, police violence and brutality is highlighted. Others have been similarly victimized: -Chantel Moore, 26..., indigenous woman, shot dead during a wellness check -Regis Korchinski-Pauet, 29, black-indigenous woman, died after police were called to do a wellness check -Ejaz Ahmed Choudry, 62, Pakistani man with schizophrenia, shot dead in his apartment during a wellness check by police This all happened within the span of 2 weeks to BIPOC individuals living with mental health challenges; this is not a one-off, and this calls for reform in mental health crisis response. The overrepresentation of BIPOC in these cases is glaring. The stigma of self-harm is lethal. Listening to and learning from lived experience is how we end this violence. We are the experts in our care and we know there are more appropriate avenues of getting people the help they deserve. We want to work together to build a trauma-informed, compassionate approach to those who are struggling with their mental health. We at SHARE support CAMH's statement calling for a new direction for crisis care: "Mental health is health. That means that people experiencing a mental health crisis need healthcare... Police are not trained in crisis care and should not be expected to lead this important work." Individuals with lived experience of mental health are more likely to be victims of violence than to be violent themselves. Together we can build a safety net for individuals struggling with self-harm and end the victimisation of people like Mona. We often hear that it takes a village to raise a child, and we believe that it takes a community to build mental health. If you need support right now, please reach out: -1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) -Vancouver Access and Assessment Centre (604-675-3700) -HealthLinkBC 8-1-1 -BC-wide Mental Health Support (310-6789) -KidsHelpPhone - up to age 29 nationwide (1-800-668-6868) -Foundry Virtual Counselling/Peer Support 1-833-FØUNDRY (1-833-308-6379) -VictimLinkBC (1-800-563-0808) -LegalAidBC (1-866-577-2525) -Kaleidoscope or SHARE via email or FB messenger If you want to see change, please consider signing the petition below: http://chng.it/LY2fhtjgZp

Foundry Virtual and Crisis Centre BC are co-hosting a FREE 8 session mindfulness webinar for young people! It starts next Monday (June 22nd) and ends Wednesday, July 15th. See details on the one pager here: https://foundrybc.ca//up/2020/06/mindfulness-program-3.pdf

Just a note that SHARE is taking the summer off, so that means no support groups from May to August. If you're seeking support, please still feel free to message us on FB or email [email protected]. For support groups during the summer months, check out The Kaleidoscope Mental Health Support Society!