Keyano College receives major donation from The Canadian Red Cross

Fort McMurray has suffered through many hardships in recent years including a wildfire that caused a mass evacuation of the town, COVID-19, and a once-in-a-century flood that affected significant parts of downtown including significant flood damage to our Clearwater Campus and residences. Through it all, The Canadian Red Cross has been behind Fort McMurray to lend support and aid when and where needed, including Keyano College. We are extremely pleased to announce that The Canadian Red Cross has stepped forward again with a generous donation for Keyano to address the increased need for mental health and psychological support (MHPSS) following the 2020 spring flood.

The project is called Trauma Informed Psychosocial Support and runs from October 1, 2020, until December 31, 2021. Its purpose is to build resilience within the Keyano student population, create a culture of wellness for students, increase knowledge of, and access to community mental health supports, and build Keyano’s capacity to support student mental health along with well-being.

With this influx of financial assistance from The Canadian Red Cross, the College will have more capacity to provide enhanced psychosocial supports to students. The Wellness Navigator will provide support that ranges from community networking, to strengthening referral pathways to community resources, developing a sustainable peer support program in collaboration with College stakeholders, coaching and skill-building training for students to cope (resilience training), systems navigation and case management to ensure barriers contributing to mental health challenges are managed and removed.   

Over the past few years, the stigma surrounding the discussion of mental health has diminished, and, with the help of The Canadian Red Cross and their generous donation, the College will continue to grow the resources and make the sustainable culture changes that are necessary to support students in all aspects of their development,  including their well-being and academic pursuits. Keyano is committed to creating a culture where the mental health and wellness of students is not only valued, but also recognized as the foundation to student’s achieving  their academic and career goals.