Mental well-being grant allows after-school organization to expand into evenings

An organization that provides after-school programming for children and youth is expanding into the evening hours thanks to a three-year grant from the P.E.I. Alliance for Mental Well-Being.

BGC Charlottetown and Montague, formerly the Boys and Girls Club, is one of eight community organizations to receive a total of $1.6 million.

"We are so excited," said BGC executive director Ted Lockie.

"We cannot keep up. We have a wait list that's more than half of our spots and the second that somebody moves away or ages out of our program, we're filled immediately after that."

BGC offers after-school care that also lets kids learn cooking skills, play sports and take part in other activities.

It will begin offering programming weeknights from 6-8 p.m., so that parents can pick up extra work shifts or go grocery shopping, Lockie said.

"We know that we're providing high-quality care and high-quality content and it's important that every kid gets that type of experience — not just in the after-school hours but in the evenings as well."

Other groups receiving grants for projects include The Milton Community Hall, Recreation P.E.I., Pride P.E.I., CHANCES, Creative P.E.I., the P.E.I. Reach Foundation and the Paramedic Association of P.E.I.

Karen Cumberland, executive director of the P.E.I. Alliance for Mental Well-Being, said about 30 applications came in for the funding.

Preference was given to proposals that supported relationships, reduced the sources of toxic stress, or strengthened life skills.

Suicide prevention and intervention program

CHANCES, for example, will use the money for a community navigator to help families facing challenges.

The Paramedic Association will provide a suicide prevention and intervention program that involves mental health training for paramedics in partnership with municipal police forces in the province.

"What that does is build a common language between those two groups that are often entering into extremely stressful community settings," Cumberland said.

"When someone is, you know, having a call for a suicide-related situation, now those officers and paramedics are going to be trained together to understand what's happening, so that they can support each other, but also buffer the stress of the individuals that are in that home."