Impact Stories

Getting help to youth in need quickly

It can be difficult to finally reach out for help when you need it. But it’s even harder when you’re told it will take months of sitting on a wait list before the help you need gets to you.

It can be difficult to finally reach out for help when you need it.

But it’s even harder when you’re told it will take months of sitting on a wait list before the help you need gets to you.

With the worldwide pandemic taking a mental toll on all of us, there are many more calls for counselling services, and waitlists are only getting longer for these essential supports.

But United Way Cental & Northern Vancouver Island have been working on that problem with our community partners.

It’s thanks to longtime corporate supporter Coastal Community Credit Union that Cowichan Valley Youth Services Society has been able to provide more rapid support to youth and families.

With Coastal Community Credit Union’s generous funding, CVYS was able to get in contact with youth and families within the first week of their referral to help them deal with immediate needs.

Though these are quick telehealth or Zoom sessions, they can be extremely important in helping youth and families to gain some much-needed stability in their lives, whether through support in accessing healthy food to mental health help and more.

“It feels like this past year your support has been more important than ever,” says Milah Smith, team lead with CVYS.

“It is because of your support we have been able to offer more rapid access to supportive services for families to combat our long waitlist and better serve the youth and families in our community.”

One youth who accessed CVYS’s supports had this to say about the organization and what it does:

“You are vital to Duncan. This is a really hard place, and youth have hardly anything here … You’re really there with not a whole lot backing you … But you just do it, you just show up for us.”

United Way CNVI was happy to have CVYS’s back in helping youth and families get the help they need faster, with support from Coastal Community Credit Union.

With our connections and knowledge of what is needed in central and northern Vancouver Island communities, we make sure that your donations go to where they are needed most in your community.

Please, if you can, consider donating to United Way CNVI today, and we can help organizations like CVYS in your community.

If you are in need of help, please call 2-1-1, and a bc211 Navigator will help you find the supports you need near you.