This long weekend: Offices closed, but youth services open 24/7

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World Mental Health Day

October 10 has been designated as World Mental Health Day by the WHO. This year’s theme is Mental Health at Work. According to the WHO, “Safe, healthy working environments can act as a protective factor for mental health. Unhealthy conditions including stigma, discrimination, and exposure to risks like harassment and other poor working conditions, can pose significant risks, affecting mental health, overall quality of life and consequently participation or productivity at work. With 60% of the global population in work, urgent action is needed to ensure work prevents risks to mental health and protects and supports mental health at work.”

  • Poor working environments — including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control and job insecurity — pose a risk to mental health.
  • 15% of working-age adults were estimated to have a mental disorder, in 2019.
  • Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity.

At Covenant House Vancouver (CHV), our commitment to mental health extends beyond words, it is ingrained in a culture that values every individual as a human being, and it fosters respect, trust, and genuine relationships. This ethos isn’t confined to the youth we serve; it’s equally extended to our employees, and recognizes their well-being as paramount.

Joining the Discussion on the World Stage

CHV knows that it takes a community to raise a young person. As such, many staff at CHV, not only engage with other organizations on the national and international level, but also speak at a variety of functions, and are involved in ground-breaking publications.

We are very fortunate to have Deb Lester as our CEO. Deb is a passionate advocate for the health and welfare of young people. Deb has a background that includes being a registered nurse, the Associate Chief Nursing Officer of Seattle Children’s Regional Hospital, and Director of Health Services for the Canadian Red Cross, during the pandemic. You can learn more about Deb, here.

Through Deb, CHV now has representation at WHO events. Deb attended the WHO Mental Health Forum in Geneva, this week, which provided CHV with the opportunity to meet policy makers, learn what is happening globally, and be a voice for young people where change begins.

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