Laurier to strengthen mental health supports through Mindful Campuses grants

June 29, 2020

For the second year in a row, Wilfrid Laurier University is the recipient of Mindful Campuses grants from Canada Life, Workplace Strategies for Mental Health and Mindful Employer Canada.

The Mindful Campuses grant program is dedicated to supporting Canadian post-secondary institutions achieve wellness for staff, students and faculty. Grants of up to $2,000 are awarded to post-secondary institutions to be used for programming and resources that contribute to the improved psychological health and safety of staff, students and faculty, including programs and resources available from Mindful Campuses grant sponsors.

Laurier’s Human Resources department and the Student Wellness Centre at the Brantford campus each received the maximum grant of $2,000.

“We are grateful to receive Mindful Campuses grants again this year,” says Pam Cant, chief human resources and equity officer at Laurier. “The impact of the global pandemic has reaffirmed the importance of mental health and wellness education. Laurier is committed to providing supports and resources to help keep faculty, staff and students healthy and resilient.”

Human Resources will use this year’s Mindful Campuses grants to offer two workshops developed by Workplace Strategies for Mental Health – “Plan for Resilience” for faculty and staff and “From Surviving to Thriving” for students – in addition to enhancing Laurier’s Thrive Week programming. Thrive Week is an annual weeklong series of free events designed to build positive mental health on Laurier campuses.

This year is the first time that the Brantford campus Student Wellness Centre applied to the grant program. The grant will fund training offered by the Canadian Mental Health Association to help staff in the Faculty of Social Work support the psychological health and safety of students working in field placements during the 2020-2021 academic year.

“We are honoured to receive a Mindful Campuses grant,” says Jodie Lockey-Duesling, acting manager of the Student Wellness Centre at Laurier’s Brantford campus. “The grant will allow us to further support the well-being of social work students as they develop future-ready skills through field placements.”

Laurier faculty and staff can register for a one-hour online version of the Plan for Resilience workshop, led by Human Resources, taking place on July 29 and 30 from 9 to 10 a.m. From Surviving to Thriving and psychological health and safety training for social work staff will take place during the fall 2020 term.

More information about mental health resources available to Laurier faculty and staff can be found on Connect. Mental health resources available to students can be found on students.wlu.ca.