The Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund is improving women’s mental health care – Right Here, Right Now

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St. John’s, NL – Today, the St. John’s Women’s Centre received a $25,000 Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund grant for the Right Here, Right Now drop-in counselling program for women. Right Here, Right Now is the first and only individual counselling service for women of its kind in Canada.

Women’s Centre staff and supporters gathered with representatives from Bell this morning at an event to celebrate the $25,000 funding, which will allow for the expansion of counselling services offered at the centre.

“Many women face a complexity of issues and long wait lists impede their ability to access appropriate services,” said Dana Warren, Clinical Team Lead and Counsellor, St. John’s Women’s Centre. “Securing free drop-in counselling services guarantees that we can deliver a therapeutic service that addresses women’s unique mental health needs when they need it the most. Right Here, Right Now is essential to women’s wellness. As we continue to grow, Bell Let’s Talk supports the future of a much needed and lauded community mental health program.”

The Right Here, Right Now program was created to improve access to mental health care for women in our community, especially those coping with lengthy wait times for “traditional” mental health services. Twice a week, on Tuesdays from 12-7 p.m. and Wednesdays from 12-5 p.m., the Women’s Centre provides free and confidential counselling. No appointment or referral is needed to receive service.

“Bell Let’s Talk is proud to support the St. John’s Women’s Centre’s Right Here, Right Now drop-in counselling program to help women in Newfoundland with mental health issues get the care they need,” said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “Having doubled the annual Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund to $2 million in 2018, we are helping some 120 organizations in communities across Canada, like St. John’s Women’s Centre, who are making a difference for those affected by mental illness.”

Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 30
The Bell Let’s Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let’s Talk Day on January 30, and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives. On Bell Let’s Talk Day, Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of the following interactions, at no extra cost to participants:

  • Talk: Every mobile call and every long distance call made by Bell wireless and phone customers
  • Text: Every text message sent by Bell wireless customers
  • Twitter: Every tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk, featuring the special Bell Let’s Talk emoji, and Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/Bell_LetsTalk
  • Facebook: Every view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video at com/BellLetsTalk and use of the Bell Let’s Talk frame
  • Instagram: Every Bell Let’s Talk Day video view at com/bell_letstalk
  • Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let’s Talk filter and video view

To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

About St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre 

The St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre is a feminist organization that since 1972 is continually working to achieve equality and justice through political activism, community collaboration and the creation of a safe and inclusive space for all women in the St. John’s area. The St. John’s Status of Women Council operates the Women’s Centre, Marguerite’s Place Supportive Housing Program and the Safe Harbour Outreach Project.

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Media Contact
Robyn Pike
Development and Communications Coordinator
St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre
Tel. 709.753.0220
robyn@sjwomenscentre.ca

Statement on the tragic death of an incarcerated woman in Clarenville

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With the recent news of the death of a woman who was incarcerated in the Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville, our immediate thoughts went to her family and loved ones, and all the women who remain in the Clarenville prison. We mourn and remember her.

For the last five years, staff from the St. John’s Women’s Centre, Marguerite’s Place supportive housing program, and the Safe Harbour Outreach Project (SHOP) have been welcomed into this women’s prison – the only official women’s prison in our province – to provide more community support, programming, and advocacy for criminalized women before, during, and after their incarceration.

Through this work, we have come to know that the majority of incarcerated women are women living below the poverty line, women dealing with homelessness and unstable, unsafe housing, women who are Indigenous, women who have untreated mental health care needs and untreated addictions, and women who have experienced sexual and physical violence. We have come to see the impacts of our province sending some of our most marginalized women to chronically overcrowded and under-resourced prisons instead of doing the work to divert women in our criminal justice system to essential services and supports that they need.

These are women from our communities, from our towns, from our outports, from our provinces, from our lands, and we have a responsibility to remember them and make sure they are not left behind. We must amplify the voices and experiences of women behind bars.

During this tragic time, we are listening to women who are grieving, offering kindness and care, and telling everyone who will listen that women in prisons are valued and loved. We recognize incarcerated women for their dignity, their ability to care for one another behind prison walls, and their resilience.

We call on our communities to join us in learning from criminalized women, listening to their needs, and advocating for better futures for all of them. We also call on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to organize an immediate assessment on the health care needs of women in prison, to be conducted in partnership with front line services and organizations supporting criminalized women before, during, and after incarceration.

Hey Rosetta! lending a holiday helping hand to the St. John’s Women’s Centre

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The Hey Rosetta! Christmas shows have long been a St. John’s holiday staple, the kick-off to the festive season in “Town.” This year, Hey Rosetta! has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold to these shows will go to support St. John’s Women’s Centre! In the spirit of this partnership, they have also generously donated five pairs of tickets to their final, sold-out show at Mile One Centre to the Women’s Centre.

Today we are launching an auction so that you can bid on your chance to experience what promises to be one of the most memorable nights in St. John’s music history – then spend a night at JAG Boutique Hotel, with its classic rock inspired decor, and enjoy a leisurely brunch the next day at Blue on Water. Music, relaxation, and great food, all in the heart of downtown, and all in support of a fantastic cause.

The successful bidder in this auction will receive:

Two (2) general admission (floor) tickets to the Friday, December 22 show at Mile One Centre;
A one-night stay at JAG Boutique Hotel on Friday, December 22; and,
A gift certificate for brunch for two (2) at Blue on Water.

The other four pairs of tickets (one general admission, three seated) will be auctioned separately. To view the auctions and place your bid, click here.

The Women’s Centre thanks Hey Rosetta! and their management team, PLUS1, JAG and Steele Hotels, and Blue on Water for their support.