Youth Mental Health Canada, a registered charitable nonprofit organization in Canada, has resources to assist school staff and families in supporting young people. Youth-driven and educator-led, YMHC draws on a wide evidence base to develop educational resources and learning opportunities focused on mental health and wellness issues.
YMHC Community Services
YMHC Heart-to-Heart campaign
YMHC launched a national Heart-to-Heart campaign in December 2023. People have been donating knitted and crocheted hearts to the YMHC office in Hamilton, Ontario. Messages of support will be attached to the hearts and sent to students who are absent from school due to mental health challenges.
Through the Heart to Heart campaign, YMHC extends an invitation to educational institutions to request handcrafted hearts for their students. Students can also contribute hearts (knit, crochet, sew) to our campaign.
Students and/or schools can request hearts with messages of support.
For more information: Heart-to-Heart Campaign – Youth Mental Health Canada (ymhc.ngo)
School Peer Support Program
YMHC has a School and Community Peer Support Program with free downloads of our 24 compassionate greeting cards.
Compassionate Card Service
Students and schools can now request e-cards and messages of support from our volunteers.
Indigenous Support
All donations to YMHC’s Make Hope Happen campaign and purchases of Every Child Matters products go to supporting Indigenous communities. Indigenous community organizations can now access free downloads of our new booklets on a wide range of topics. YMHC resources will be donated to an Indigenous community organization when people purchase a print workbook.
Right now, we have two booklets in stock: “Stressed?” and the “Feelings Wheel”. In the next week, two new booklets will be added: “Creating an Education Support Team” and “Creating a Personal Wellness Action Plan”.
Student, Parent, or School Staff Workshops
Chronic School Absenteeism: YMHC has provided presentations, workshops, and training courses on school phobia, avoidance, and chronic absenteeism to education and mental health professionals and families in provincial, national, and international conferences, and in YMHC training courses, workshops, and presentations. In January 2024, we provided a two-day school phobia training course for a school board with approximately 40 school support professionals. YMHC has worked on the issues of school phobia, avoidance, and absenteeism, and in stay-in-school programs for over 20 years.
Our next training course on school-wide strategies to support students with school phobia, avoidance, and chronic absenteeism is Wednesday, April 3, 6 to 8 p.m. ET – Wednesday, May 8, 6 to 8 p.m. https://ymhc.ngo/sptc
YMHC has virtual and in-person workshops and training courses on a range of child and youth mental health issues. Workshops and courses can be tailored to the needs of each school community. YMHC is led by an educator who has taught elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education students in Canada and Africa.
Some of our most popular workshops include:
- Creating a Personal Wellness Action Plan
- School-Wide Strategies to Support Student Mental Wellness
- Building Sources of Support, Strength, and Resilience