In honour of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, Sources Community Resource Centres – which has locations in both White Rock and Surrey – is joining a worldwide call for a “massive scale-up” in available mental health resources.
Mental health resources are always important, but the World Health Organization has stated an increased need due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that is negatively affecting people across the globe.
“We are already seeing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s mental well-being and this is just the beginning. Unless we make serious commitments to scale up investment in mental health right now, the health, social and economic consequences will be far-reaching,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, said in a news release issued by Sources this week.
The release cites WHO statistics that show countries, on average, spend only two per cent of their health budgets on mental health.
Closer to home on the Semiahmoo Peninsula, Sources created the Comfort and Care During COVID-19 response fund back in April.
“As a social wellness agency… we recognized the increased need for mental health services and immediately launched our… response fund so that we could provide hope and help,” said David Young, CEO of Sources.
“It’s been 30 years since the first World Mental Health Day and we’ve seen a lot of positive changes since then but, with a devastating pandemic, many people are suffering through loss, in all its various forms, that may take years to recover from.”
Sources – which operates two food banks and a rent bank – offers numerous mental health services, including virtual counselling. For more. visit www.sourcesbc.ca
editorial@peacearchnews.com
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