Wood's Homes Blog

The past year has brought tremendous obstacles and challenges for all us. Working within the Emergency department of the Alberta Children’s Hospital has been no exception.

As we entered the new world of COVID-19 in March 2020, we, as a community, did so with caution and uncertainty. This was evident in the Emergency department; the hustle and bustle we once knew became a solemn void. We witnessed a collective apprehension towards attending the hospital.

Where did all the mental health concerns go? For us, this was the calm before the storm, and we were patiently waiting and preparing.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns and restrictions have been hard on all of us. We’ve all experienced increased stress and previously unforeseen challenges in our personal and work lives. But through all of it, Wood’s Homes and its staff have come together to support one another and find new and innovative ways to complete our work and continue serving our clients.

For nearly a decade, Wood’s Homes has been recognizing Children’s Mental Health Day (CMHD) as a way to bring attention to - and break down the stigma - attached to mental health challenges faced by young people. This year, Mental Health Week takes place May 3 – 9 with Children’s Mental Health Day falling on May 7.

Wood’s Homes has celebrated Children’s Mental Health Day in a number of ways, ranging from staff and client-focused campaigns/activities, to far-reaching events involving the community, donors, media, noted Calgarians and even a large-scale march through the heart of downtown.

This year, we decided TO GO BIG… but wait… first, we thought we’d take a look back at how we’ve been able to shine the spotlight on child and youth mental health over the years.

In her TedXWomen’s talk ‘A Realistic Vision for World Peace’, Jody Williams reframes the concept of peace as human security – sustainable, with justice, equity and “freedom from fear”. And in order to achieve peace, we must take action. For rarely is there “hope without endeavour” or “hope of change, unless we take action to make it so”.

I found her vision of peace reminiscent of our vision at Wood’s Homes: A world that values and nurtures the mental health of all people and when needed, ensures quality, timely help for all. I’ve observed that all of us instinctively want to "reclaim the meaning of peace" and carry a vision of a more sustainable and more equitable world, and know that we must work to make our vision a reality.

I am one of those volunteers who has been blessed to have the opportunity to serve as a Board Member at Wood’s Homes! 

I first became involved with Wood’s Homes, in support of a fundraising effort to replace the ‘old’ EXIT Community Outreach van. This was during a time in the past before the technology, (tablets, social media, etc.) changed our outreach abilities.

COVID-19 has impacted all people and every aspect of life. One of the significant impacts has been for people who have huge hearts, or deep wells of empathy. For many of us, we have felt that well running dry. People are having to dig a little deeper into their reserves in order to choose kindness. So what do you do when you find yourself quicker to be irritated, faster to fall into frustration, just generally annoyed more frequently than typical?

Eastside Community Mental Health Services and Central Library in downtown Calgary began a pilot project last fall that offers library patrons immediate, no-charge, walk-in mental health and addictions support.

We are pleased to announce that this partnership has been extended to December 2021. 

A year ago, the therapy and crisis counselling teams at Eastside Community Mental Health Services (formerly Eastside Family Centre and the Community Resource Team) faced a daunting task. 

We were looking to create an immediate overhaul of a service delivery model that was 30 years in the making - because of something called COVID-19. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, social service organizations – such as Wood’s Homes – have been challenged to keep pace with ever-evolving public health policy and protocols, while also maintaining focus on the effective delivery of our mental health services.

Over the last year, Wood’s Homes has been shoulder-to-shoulder with other children’s mental health congregate care programs and has been faced with positive COVID-19 cases in our live-in programs. Faced with this challenge, senior leadership put out a call to all staff, looking for ‘trailblazers.’ These would be frontline workers who were prepared to join Wood’s Homes Pandemic Team – a team of employees who were able to commit to working (up to one month) in a program where there was a positive COVID-19 case.

I found out I was pregnant on July 27, 2020.

My husband, Dylan, and I had never been so excited – after 11 years together, we were finally taking the next step in our journey as a couple and becoming parents. At that time, it appeared as though the global COVID-19 pandemic was slowing down – active case numbers were low, provincial restrictions were lifted and life was pretty much the same as it was before the pandemic (aside from the face masks, of course). Yes, we knew that COVID-19 was still here and could potentially be around for many months to come; however, many of the fears and anxieties we had in the spring were slowly disappearing as we saw case numbers decline.