New Home for P.G. Branch of Canadian Mental Health Association
Angela Sluchinski and husband Michael hold the ribbon for CMHABC CEO Bev Gutray and CMHA Prince George Board President Greg Beattie to cut. Photo 250News
Prince George., B.C. – The Canadian Mental Health Association, Prince George, has a new location, and a lot more space.
From its former home on George Street where it had just 3,000 square feet, it has moved to 3rd Avenue, where it now has more than double that space. Maureen Davis , the CMHA Prince George Branch’s Executive Director, says the increased space will be a boost to clients and staff “So this allows staff to have individual offices, it allows a huge space for peers to be able to come in and hang out and learn information and get support. We have a large training room now so we are going to be able to host community events.”
Space for staff to have their own offices is important says Bev Gutray, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association for BC as it contributes to positive mental health in the workplace “They bring their whole personality to work and when you’re doing mental health work it’s so important to be who you are and to be in a place that is comfortable to do that work.”
Davis says the Prince George Branch has about 200 clients it deals with directly, but its outreach and education programs connect with thousands. “We’ve seen a large increase in people needing services and people becoming a lot more aware of mental health needs, so they’re coming to our doors now, so yes, we definitely see ourselves being able to provide support and services at a far higher rate.”
The new location is 1152 3rd Avenue, just a block west of George Street.
Comments
&ope the clubhouse is still up and running in the same location.
This area of Third and George has been inundated with people in various stages of drunkenness, or drugs lately. Yelling, screaming, swearing, drug dealing, fighting, and generally raising hell seems to be the order of the day.
We need more police presence in the area.
Palopu, I agree with you. However it’s not policing that’s needed more than the idiots in city planning allowing social services to be placed in close proximity to other assistance services. They need to be spread out a bit more along transit routes so that there isn’t a congregation of “losers” hanging around these facilities prevent those who “really” need the services from getting access.
The rotten eggs in one basket theory may work for policing but it kills the city core when that core is the basket. But the message wont get through until someone is seriously injured and the focus is drawn to the issue of poor city planning.
The way things have been going down there, I would expect a serious injury in the not to distant future.
Ah, downtown revitalization at it’s finest.. “….peers to be able to come in and hang out…?” Peers in my mind is defined as equals. Who’s in charge, then?
These are some of the most ignorant posts I have ever read on this site…and that takes a lot since comments here are routinely ignorant, hurtful and hateful.
One in four Canadians is experiencing a mental illness. That includes me. I promise you, I will not lower the value of your downtown. Now, look at the rest of your family because chances are, you or one of them is also dealing with a mental health issue.
I predict that one day the city council will approve an Insite (safe injection establishment) somewhere on George Street. I suspect a business such as that will “revitalize” customers before it revitalizes downtown. A historic storefront would probably spruce up a very vacant George St. You heard it here first.
trueblue2, You need to take it easy with your jumping into the deep end with respect to your comments about posts. No one is slagging or demeaning anyone with a mental illness here. Re-read the posts with a cooler prospective.
What we are commenting on is how the city is doing nothing about cleaning up the downtown core to make it safer for people to get the services and assistance they are looking for without the “street hassle”.
The downtown core has been a dumping ground for the city’s more “colorful individuals”, you can’t walk more than a block without running into an outreach service or a mob of pan handlers jacking you up for change.
The mayor’s task force on crime was nothing more than a coffee and doughnut session with little or no actual “boots on the ground” changes.
There are lots of folks that need assistance from many of these services, but these folks have dignity and self respect and will not go downtown to seek assistance when the facility is surrounded by those who are just looking for handouts.
Mental illness is a serious matter, folks need help and they should be able to get the assistance they need, safely and with respect and dignity. Our comments here are about the city dropping the ball and giving the residents of the city much less than they deserve.
If you found the comments offensive, then clearly you have taken them out of context. For that, I for one apologize if my statements were misunderstood.
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