CAMH Foundation

This holiday season, your gift ensures we can help those who turn to us for support, providing hope now and in the future. From Dec 23 to 31, your gift to CAMH will be triple-matched. This means that your generosity will have 3X the impact on advancing mental health care at CAMH. Tripling your support today will help us face mental illness and addiction head on. From creating innovative solutions for postpartum depression to gaining new insights into the risks of teen cannabis use, your gift will help break down barriers to care and develop personalized treatments that improve mental health care for everyone. Help us change mental health care forever. Donate today at https://ow.ly/U6fu50UmxEF #NoOneLeftBehind

And that’s a wrap! Thanks to the generosity of spirit and time, we’ve had another successful CAMH Gifts of Light Wrapping Workshop. Thank you to all of our supporters that joined us and volunteered their time and wrapping skills to make a difference in our patients’ lives this holiday at CAMH. Gifts of Light is a 100% donation-funded program that works with patients, families, and front-line clinical staff to identify the patient wellness gaps in our provincial system and support areas that do not receive ministry funding – with the goal of improving the patient experience. While the holidays can be a difficult time for patients on their path to recovery, receiving thoughtful, practical and meaningful gifts to our diverse patient population. Excitingly, over 4,600 gifts were wrapped and delivered this month. We are grateful for your continued support this holiday to build better mental health care for everyone. #NoOneLeftBehind CAA Club Group CAMH Engage CIBC DECIEM | THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY GreenShield GFL Environmental Inc. Joe Fresh Knix Loblaw Companies Limited Manulife Motherless Day Procter & Gamble Riccardo and Friends Opera Concert  SAOR Pilates

Did you know that the Sunshine Garden at CAMH is one of the earliest examples of horticultural therapy developed in the Canadian healthcare system? The Sunshine Garden is a recreational therapeutic and production gardening program for patients at CAMH, in partnership with FoodShare Toronto. Led by CAMH Community Engagement with the support of Gifts of Light and their clinical teams, our patients learn gardening skills, gain plant knowledge, get to know community members and enjoy the beauty of the garden. This valued partnership is based on the principles of organic food production and environmental sustainability. For many patients it provides a sense of joy while also learning opportunities about food production and values. Thank you to our donors for their generous support, enabling us to provide innovative therapeutic programs like The Sunsine Garden for our patients. #NoOneLeftBehind

We are so fortunate to have DECIEM | THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY supporting CAMH. They recently gave CAMH a gift to support the Brain Health Imaging Centre. In addition to their generous financial donations, they also provide ongoing product donations to our Gifts of Light program including shampoo, body wash and skin care for CAMH patients. DECIEM wanted to express their appreciation of CAMH staff by donating thousands of products so each of us could walk away with a gift. Thank you DECIEM for your ongoing support of CAMH and your commitment to helping us build better mental health care for everyone. #NoOneLeftBehind

The holidays can be a particularly difficult time for people living with mental illness and addiction. It’s also an opportunity to give to the causes that are most important to us and show support for those who may be struggling during the holidays. Your donation shows CAMH patients there are people who believe in them and support them even in their most challenging moments. The CAMH Giving Hub allows you to choose an area of impact that resonates with you. Whether you want to help drive progress in one of CAMH’s research areas or you want to provide a Gifts of Light patient experience, your gift will make a meaningful difference. Gift ideas include Emergency Kits, Healing Through Music, Youth Mental Health Research and more. One gift today can help us change mental health care forever. Explore CAMH Giving Hub and donate today at https://ow.ly/mlnV50UeUQK #NoOneLeftBehind

During the fourth annual CAMH Business Leaders for Mental Health Symposium, leaders connected as a group to discuss what psychological safety in the workplace looks like and how to implement The S.A.F.E. Framework. Developed by CAMH, The S.A.F.E. Framework is a practice tool used for psychologically safe and inclusive interactions in the workplace. The goal is to establish norms and expectations around how team members communicate and interact with each other. This includes creating an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and sharing their ideas without fear of retaliation or judgment. By integrating these four elements you will create a psychological safety net whereby team members feel supported and protected if they speak up or express their ideas. This includes addressing any instances of disrespectful or harmful behavior and holding team members accountable for their actions. Employers can increase retention and wellbeing for all employees by utilizing the S.A.F.E. Framework. To learn how to be a part of the Business Leaders community, click here https://ow.ly/oOVx50UhzQz or email: [email protected] #NoOneLeftBehind

For CAMH Foundation, the disruption in postal service is a challenge. It’s come at a time of year when your mailed-in donations typically make a big difference for our patients. The current postal disruption is just one of the many challenges facing CAMH Foundation and the rest of the charitable sector this holiday season. Increased demand and rising costs for services and programs make your support of CAMH more important than ever. You can still bring joy and light to people living with mental illness and addiction this holiday season by making an online donation or giving a gift by phone at 1-800-414-0471. Donate online at https://ow.ly/K2OP50Ul8Bz #NoOneLeftBehind #CanadaPostStrike

At CAMH Foundation , innovation is leading the way in personalized brain health care. Dr. Liisa Galea and her colleagues have published a vital review exploring how sex differences and steroid hormones—like estrogen and testosterone—shape brain health throughout our lives. Their research highlights the importance of integrating sex-specific factors into treatments for conditions like depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Key insights from their work include: Recognizing the role of hormones in brain health and disease. Exploring how sex differences influence health outcomes and treatment responses. Advocating for personalized medicine to ensure better care for all. This work embodies CAMH's mission to transform mental health care with science and compassion. Let’s celebrate this step forward in advancing brain health for everyone. 📖 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gPqA9XHm #womenmind

CAMH Foundation is #hiring! We are looking for two talented Contract Sunrise Challenge Fundraising Coordinators to join our team!   #jobopportunity #career #NoOneLeftBehind https://lnkd.in/g8vsWBw9

“I’ve lost loved ones in my life, but I've never lost hope. I was born in a small remote town in the Canadian Prairies and living and growing up there I lost people in my family because of barriers in the healthcare system and lack of basic lifesaving medicine. There are many stories like this experienced by those in northern, rural and Indigenous communities; and my loved ones, like many others, struggle with mental illness and addiction. I never imagined I would attend medical school, but I was thrilled to be accepted into the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Witnessing difficulty in accessibility, I specialized in psychiatry because I felt like I was doing something important. That is what brought me to CAMH. The doctors here really changed my perspective. The doctors—my mentors—are incredible leaders working at the Emergency Department and it inspired me to see the difference they were making. I love working at CAMH’s emergency department because of this team, our commitment to equitable care and because no two stories are the same. Despite the incredible clinical care our team provides and the resources we have, it is still not enough, and I am excited for the work ahead of us. My life experiences have led me to appreciate the importance of equity and working to fill the gaps that exist in our system. The CAMH emergency department is a place where anyone can come for help. We strive to provide clinical excellence within a dignified space to those who walk through our doors every single day. I want people to know that we are here to help. In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness, and I want to normalize people accessing the care they need. That is why we are here. We believe in serving the community.” -Dr. Aislynn Torfason, Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems at CAMH Read Dr. Aislynn Torfason's full story at https://ow.ly/Cjmg50UkmIA #NoOneLeftBehind #LivedExperience