RBC Helps Families Access Mental Health Support

Waterloo, June 13, 2017 – Royal Bank of Canada has provided $150,000 of funding that will help children and youth struggling with their mental health in Waterloo Region. The funds will be used to help organizations providing children’s mental health programs, to install software that will help staff accurately and consistently assess the needs of children and youth.

In 2016, Lutherwood worked with Camino Family and Community Services to launch InterRAI ChYMH (International Resident Assessment Instrument - Child and Youth Mental Health) at their Front Door location in Kitchener. The information gathered also helps the agencies determine the most appropriate services for each client, guides treatment and helps the organizations assess and improve the quality of their services. With this grant, Lutherwood is now has resources to support two other local agencies that are adopting InterRAI ChYMH.

“RBC is helping us provide a better service to families,” said Dr. John Colangeli, CEO of Lutherwood. “For parents whose children need access to a variety of mental health programs and agencies, having InterRAI at each agency will eliminate the need for families to repeat their story when they first contact each agency. This saves them time, improves our service and helps us ensure we give children and youth the right support at the right time.”

“One in five Canadians will experience mental illness during their lifetime and many of these disorders begin in childhood or adolescence,” said Massimo Iacurti, Regional Vice President of Waterloo Kitchener Perth, RBC. “At RBC, we are proud to support Lutherwood in their efforts to provide services that assist children, youth and their families cope with mental health challenges.”

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is Canada’s largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We have over 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 36 other countries. RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2016, we contributed more than $121 million to causes around the world. www.rbc.com

Front Door – a joint initiative of Lutherwood and Camino – offers walk-in clinics that help 0-18 year olds struggling with behaviour, emotions, self-harm, relationships or their mental health. Front Door also helps parents and youth access more intensive services when appropriate. www.frontdoormentalhealth.com

Lutherwood is a not-for-profit health and social service organization that supports youth with mental health issues, people at risk of being homeless, workers looking for employment and families in need of counselling. Its services are accessed by more than 16,600 people annually in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. www.lutherwood.ca