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The Public Health Agency of Canada recently unveiled its new investment dedicated to helping the Black community in the country with their mental health.
In a press release published on Friday, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Carolyn Bennet, and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Marci Ien, announced that $1.5 million will be devoted to supporting nonprofits and their mission to help with the mental health of Black Canadians.
Part of a $100 million plan announced in 2021, the majority of the funds will go towards the initiatives of two main nonprofits- Black Mental Health Canada and Wanasah: Mental Health Services for Black Youth.
Founded in 2019, Black Mental Health Canada is a nonprofit whose main focus is on providing counseling services to people in the Black community. Set to receive a majority of the funds at $1.1 million, their initiative is planned to expand across Canada and focus more on offering support for those with race-based traumatic stress and racial trauma.
As for Wanasah: Mental Health Service for Black Youth, the remaining $400,000 of the funds will be dedicated to supporting their initiative that’s based in the Regent Park area of Toronto. Set to emphasize community-based healing support, the nonprofit will offer mental health services with a focus on highlighting the Black youth. Although they’ll also be extending support to their families, Wanasah: Mental Health Service for Black Youth will focus on helping the Black youth with trauma that was made worse specifically by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The road to recovery is complex for those who have experienced mental health challenges and trauma – especially for people who face social exclusion, marginalization, and stigma,” said Ien per a press release. “This is why our government is proud to support organizations like Black Mental Health Canada and Wanasah to build Black-centric and trauma-responsive services to better serve the mental health needs of these communities.”
Throughout the pandemic, Canada saw an increase in poor mental health, particularly amongst the Black community. According to a Statistics Canada survey conducted in 2020, 27.9% of Black participants reported struggling with poor mental health, recording a percentage higher than that of the ethnic and racial groups involved in the study.
About 32% of Black respondents also said that they struggled with a form of anxiety in the two weeks leading up to the survey.
