$10 million over five years to address mental health within black communities in Brampton

BY SELINA McCALLUM

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Federal Minister of Health, announced Government of Canada funding will go towards programs that support mental health within black Canadian communities in Brampton.

Kamal Khera is the Member of Parliament representing Brampton West and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.

She is a registered nurse, community volunteer and a political activist. MP Khera is passionate about improving the lives of those around her and is committed to being a strong voice for change for all residents in Brampton West.

“For the past three and a half years, we found that there was a huge lack of access and a lot of people not coming forward to receive help. This is why this is really important for the Government of Canada to address the significant mental challenges in the black community,” said MP Khera.

Budget 2018 committed $19 million to address challenges faced by black Canadians.

As part of this investment, the Public Health Agency of Canada is providing up to $10 million over five years through the initiative, Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Initiative (MHBC), to better support the mental health and well-being of black Canadians.

The Government of Canada is committed to strengthening multiculturalism and addressing the significant and unique mental health challenges faced by black Canadian communities.

“Anti-black racism exists in our communities, it exists in our city and it exists in our country and that’s why the Anti-Racism Strategy was announced last month. This will ensure that we are demonstrating federal leadership, we’re moving forward and addressing systematic racism and discrimination when found to exist within our federal institutions and in public policies and programs,” said MP Khera. “We are fully supporting racialized communities, religious minorities, and indigenous people.”

The MHBC initiative includes two funding streams, one of which is the Incubator which provides short-term funding to support capacity-building activities that will help organizations design, develop, implement and evaluate projects that promote mental health for black Canadians.

MP Khera thanks her stakeholders for making this possible.

“I’d like to thank the stakeholders. I have a black stakeholder consultation that I do every year in February where we come up with strategies and initiatives to see what we can do,” said MP Khera. “Because of that I am very happy that we got this funding in the west.”

The program, Aspire for Higher Elite Basketball – Mental Health Initiative Curriculum and Evaluation Plan Development, is receiving funding through the Incubator Stream.

Aspire for Higher is a not for profit grassroots organization who has provided basketball programming for youth in the Greater Toronto Area since 2013. We offer a variety of youth programs for children aged 4 to 17 including, introductory basketball programs, development leagues and summer camps.

Their vision is to change the lives of youth through the development of sustainable, empowering and high level sports programs.

The project aims to develop a mental health education curriculum, and build capacity for its implementation, in Aspire for Higher Elite Basketball’s programs for youth. The new mental health curriculum will be developed in consultation with mental health professionals, education professionals, child welfare organizations, and other partners and organizations.

This project will offer targeted support to black youth, particularly males, in Brampton.

“Youth are not just the leaders of today, but the leaders of tomorrow. I’ve had an opportunity to meet these amazing black youths and they’re doing some really exciting things. I think we need to prepare to provide them with the support that they need,” said MP Khera. “To ensure that we are moving forward in a way that ensures everyone has the same opportunities to succeed.”