The province pledged $375,000 towards the expansion of mental-health services for refugees and immigrants who have settled on Vancouver Island, on Tuesday, World Refugee Day.
The Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees, which provides low-cost counselling services to immigrants and refugees on the Island, will receive the funding over three years to provide free and affordable mental-health services for all ages.
“There is an urgent need to support people, including children and young immigrants and refugees struggling with mental-health challenges across the province,” said Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care, and MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill.
“Funding for the Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees will ensure children and young people get the supports they need to not only survive, but thrive in B.C.”
The counselling sessions will be offered in a client’s first language, whenever possible. The cost for services will be based on an individual’s income and can be free if clients are unable to afford it.
Adrienne Carter, director of services with the Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees, said the number of refugee and immigrant families that have settled on Vancouver Island is rapidly increasing, and most don’t speak English and are not able to access mental-health resources that are “culturally and linguistically appropriate.”
“This grant will allow our centre to continue to provide holistic mental-health services to the entire family.”
More than 700 immigrants and refugees from 80 countries have received trauma-informed and culturally sensitive mental health counselling at the centre since 2015.
