Victoria – The Government of B.C. has invested $5 million in the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (BCSS), a non-profit organization that provides services, programs and a provincewide family support system to those living with schizophrenia, psychosis and other persistent mental illnesses.
Funding will be used to increase access to services for families in rural, northern and under-served areas throughout the province, expand partnerships with Indigenous communities. It will also enhance the society’s Kids and Teens in Control program, which provides support to children and youth affected by family mental illness.
The society also hopes to reduce stigma surrounding serious mental illness by continuing its podcast and expanding its mental-health literacy programming.
“We are truly grateful for our partnership with the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions helping us expand and enhance our services to families in rural, northern and under-served areas across B.C.,” said Faydra Aldridge, CEO, BC Schizophrenia Society. “Every day, our front-line staff speak with family members needing support and wanting to learn more about serious mental illness. They are looking for what resources are available for their loved ones. The outcomes of our work can be unmeasurable for the individual living with a mental illness, their family members and caregivers.”
