The Community Wellness Collaborative is a community group that came together following the pandemic when the community noticed a rise in mental health concerns, at about the same time the Ministry of Education announced that one of the Provincial Education Interim Plan Priorities was the Mental Health and Well-Being of students and staff across the province. The Committee exists to support the Mental Wellness aspect of Mental Health and in so doing to support the School Division, families and communities with regard to promoting preventative strategies. One of these preventative initiatives is a monthly themed newsletter related to Mental Wellness.
From October until June, a monthly theme package is put together by one of the representatives and their organization. The committee’s hope is that the entire community can learn more about the same mental health wellness topic each month. The monthly theme package will be distributed to all staff in both local school divisions, and will also be sent out to community-based organizations.
The theme for May’s Community Wellness Collaborative Newsletter is Kindness and Generosity, and offers differing perspectives on “kindness matters” for all ages.
In a time when distance, disease, and disasters have been in the forefront of news in our lives, this newsletter leans into the need for kindness and generosity to inspire hope and resilience. It features projects that children and adults alike can undertake in spreading kindness near and far, from being a “RAKtivist”(one who performs Random Acts of Kindness), to engaging in a kindness calendar. The value of kindness is affirmed through the scientific evidence, showing that being kind to yourself and others is good for both the giver AND receiver’s wellbeing, body, mind and spirit. And finally, resources are offered to encourage self-compassion: the practise of turning that kindness inwards. It is our hope that through championing kindness, we just might inspire “Kindness Champions” in our community and beyond, and start an epidemic of care and compassion.
Submitted by
Della Ferguson, Journey to Hope Moose Jaw
