A recent donation to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation will provide children across the province suffering with their mental health an over-the-phone support resource.
The $1 million donation was made by Saskatoon couple, Wayne and Debra Grund. They made the donation after seeing what the covid-19 pandemic had done to the mental health of Saskatchewan youth.

Keeping in mind that not all children have easy or close access to a child psychiatrist, the money will be used to fund the Strong Families Institute initiative. SFI is a charity that provides free mental health support to children over the phone when they are unable to access other supports, if the child is unable to leave their room, or when all other options have shown limited success.

Dr. Anna Felstrom says children in rural, remote, or northern areas of Saskatchewan will especially benefit from the service. The professionals and coaches are based all across Canada, however, mainly out of Halifax. The program has already seen close to 85 per cent successful outcomes. Felstrom says these success stories range from getting a child back to school or helping a child become able to eat full meals again.