Saskatoon mental health retreat centre for kids gets $216K funding
EGADZ will convert youth group home to offer outreach services
A Saskatoon group that works with children plans to convert one of its group homes into a mental health outreach retreat centre.
On Wednesday, the provincial government and the Saskatchewan Health Authority committed to giving EGADZ a combined $216,000 for the project.
Don Meikle, the EGADZ's executive director, said the retreat centre aims to keep children out of the hospital.
"Our kids don't do well with clinical types of services," said Meikle. "So, that's where you get the serious kind of incidents happening like self harm, suicide attempts, because they don't talk about it."
Meikle said mental health issues, including self-harm, are a serious issue with the children EGADZ works with.
"Lately, we've had three, four of our kids in the hospital at one time in the evening," he said. "We just want to try and find a better way."
The new retreat centre will allow children to stay in their current placements, avoiding the additional trauma of having to move.
Some of the money will also go to a new van will also be able to provide mobile help and a therapy dog to comfort youth in crisis.