Tamara Kowalska, Executive Director of the Windsor Youth Centre provided an agency perspective to the group, confirming how her organization and clients feel all three of these issues in the work they do.
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Mental illness, addiction, and lack of affordable housing all play a role in youth homelessness. Real change in our community demands a willingness to be critical of our current practice as well as a commitment to compassion. These are difficult tasks but the rewards are virtually guaranteed," she said.
The idea for the Mental Health Roundtable came in the Summer of 2016 when a group of local leaders decided that it was time to pause and review our changing Windsor/ Essex Mental Health System.
"We know that all service providers are bursting at the seams. The question then becomes how we can support each other by making changes to help the entire system and not just our own organization. We have to think about Mental Health Services in Windsor/Essex collectively. It is the only way we will continue to see improvements in service delivery," said Janice Kaffer, President and CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
