Including family members as an integral part
of the treatment team produces better outcomes

The Foundation, drawing on its collective expertise, undertakes continuing advocacy on key issues, such as family involvement as part of the treatment team, information sharing, and a pro-active approach to treatment of those in difficulty. Problems on these issues continue to plague mental-health services, with sometimes disastrous results.

We also undertake individual case advocacy where a family member (parent, sibling, partner) runs into obstacles in getting their loved one into treatment or otherwise encounters an unresponsive system.

Please get in touch with us if you have your own story to tell or if an issue comes up that you think needs attention.

For advocacy highlights, commentary, and key documents, click here.

Grants go to projects whose objectives are aligned with our priorities or to operating expenses of organizations whose work is aligned with our mission.

If you share our priorities and want to work with us in developing your project proposal, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would be glad to discuss possibilities with you.

Please see our Grants page for details on the application process.

KUU-US Crisis Line Society

24-hour province-wide Indigenous crisis line and local Port Alberni mobile outreach, as well as a phone-support crisis line for Indigenous communities throughout British Columbia. KUU-US provides local mobile outreach in the Port Alberni region to those needing help in the community at large. Services include risk assessment, de-escalation of crisis situations (like suicidal ideation), outgoing safety monitoring, linkages to mental-health and emergency services for at-risk cases, care-plan follow-up, and finding housing for those who are homeless (together with wrap-around support)

MHSF offers pro bono interactive training seminars for staff and volunteers of non-profits throughout British Columbia and Canada. The seminars, facilitated by an MHSF board member or other leader, engage participants in exploring key issues involving serious mental illness, such as the illnesses themselves, involuntary admission, information-sharing, front-line advocacy for those with mental illness and their families, and the workings of mental-health services.

When a suicide or other serious physical harm occurs because of grievous mental-health system failure, there is little accountability, and unfortunately without accountability, necessary change for the future doesn’t happen. A time-honoured way of providing for accountability is through law suits, but in the case of the death of someone with mental illness, court action is rarely undertaken. The Law Project, by advocating for necessary legislative changes, identifying pro bono volunteer lawyers, and providing family members with support and encouragement, seeks to change that.

Read more…

Every year MHSF brings together distinguished people in British Columbia who are making unique contributions to helping those with serious mental illness, together with others whose work is related and who bring with them their own insights. Proceedings are informal – a collegial gathering for sharing experiences and for building relationships for the future.

Virtual cross-Canada mini-conferences on a specific subject of strategic importance, whether it be how to get treatment help to people in a timely way or any of the other strategic priorities and related concerns that underlie MHSF’s and other organizations’ missions.

MHSF at the same time submits funding proposals for major conferences on key subjects of interest, starting with preliminary funding to organize a consortium of lead organizations, and moving on from there to implementation of the conference itself.

The objective is to expand the Foundation’s reach and its grant capacity by increasing our endowment, whose revenue stream underwrites grant allocations, advocacy, and in-house projects.

If you would like to work with us on development of our capital fund, please get in touch.