A major fundraising campaign for Atlantic Wellness Centre.
It is hoping to raise $3.5 million.
Executive Director Andrew Leblanc says the demand for services has been increasing, “The money will be used for four things primarily. We want to add two Francophone therapists to the organization, and the first position is actually open now, We’re going to add a permanent outreach therapist to our team. We’ve been piloting that over the last year, so they’re able to go for youth who can’t come to us, the therapist is able to go out to them and we work with schools and nonprofits to do that. We’re going to expand the hours of the same-day clinic that we run. And the last thing is we’re going to be moving into a larger building because this is our 10th anniversary as an organization in the last 10 years. we’ve outgrown two buildings so we’re hoping to make another move, maybe a little more permanent, this time to a larger facility to accommodate some of the growth.”
The fundraising campaign was just announced last week, but Leblanc says the centre has already raised $2.1 million towards its goal.
” For several years, of course, the pandemic had a big impact and kind of expedited that necessity for growth. As our communities change, so do the services we provide, to make sure that everyone has that immediate access to the mental health care that they need,” Leblanc adds.
Services are free for the youth who use them, and there are no barriers when trying to access Counselling.
“The other thing, if you were to access private counselling through your insurance program, your insurance probably runs over that for four or five sessions depending on your plan. With us, there’s no cap on sessions. So theoretically, you could stay from age 12 all the way to age 21 with no gap in services, and have the support you need throughout that entire time,” Leblanc says.
Atlantic Wellness Centre also added Telehealth services during the pandemic and they now are able to provide Counselling through video, text and phone as well as in person.
“Historically, it’s always been Southeast New Brunswick that we’ve served, but with the addition of Telehealth, we can really see anyone in the province, so that is one of the great things whether you are in a rural community and can’t get in for services, Telehealth will allow you to access those services,” Leblanc says.
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