NEW WESTMINSTER, October 24, 2019 – Aunt Leah’s Place is pleased to announce it has received a $20,000 grant from the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund to expand the capacity of its free clinical counselling program operated in partnership with Dan’s Legacy Foundation.
The Link: Mental Health Supports for Youth from Care program provides free counselling services and supports for youth in and from foster care with histories of abuse, neglect and mental health issues. Funding from Bell Let’s Talk will enable the program to expand its counselling hours, offering evening and weekend sessions at Aunt Leah’s Youth Hub Resource Centre.
“The Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund grant allows Aunt Leah’s Place and Dan’s Legacy to continue our partnership and provide innovative mental health supports for youth in and from foster care,” said Sarah Stewart, Executive Director of Aunt Leah’s Place. “We are honoured to work with so many amazing young people each day and to have such a great partnership with Dan’s Legacy. We thank Bell Let’s Talk for supporting youth in and from foster care and helping them build brighter futures.”
“We’re proud of our longtime partnership with Aunt Leah’s Place and thrilled with this outstanding support from Bell Let’s Talk,” said Barbara Coates, Executive Director of Dan’s Legacy. “Working together has helped us expand our reach into the community, ensuring more at-risk youth receive critical counselling and wrap-around supports.”
Youth from foster care are at high risk for homelessness and lifelong mental health and addictions issues. Aunt Leah’s Place and Dan’s Legacy Foundation work together to provide wrap-around services to at-risk youth in the Lower Mainland who are either in foster care or aging out of foster care. For youth in transition, The Link works to provide a continuum of care and planning past age 19, closing the gap in mental health support services for at-risk youth requiring mental health counselling.
“Bell Let’s Talk is pleased to support Aunt Leah’s Place as they work with Dan’s Legacy Foundation to expand mental health counselling services for youth in the Lower Mainland,” said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let’s Talk. “Through the Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund, we are helping over 120 organizations across Canada this year, like Aunt Leah’s Place, that are making a difference for people in their communities living with mental health issues.”
The Bell Let’s Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti- stigma campaigns like Bell Let’s Talk Day and significant funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
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About Aunt Leah’s Place
Aunt Leah’s Place helps prevent children in foster care from becoming homeless and mothers in need from losing custody of their children. To support them on their journey to self-sufficiency, we provide supported housing, job training, and coaching on essential life skills.
About Dan’s Legacy
Dan’s Legacy provides therapeutic counselling and life-skills intervention programs to youth affected by trauma-based mental health and addictions issues. In the past four years Dan’s Legacy has helped over 300 youth meet their educational, housing and life goals.