A local youth mental health group has won a national award.
The Belleville-based SAY OutLoud! group won the Community Organization Award as part of the 2022 Champions of Mental Health from the Canadian Alliance of Mental Illness and Mental Health.
SAY OutLoud! is a youth mental health group that provides a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I didn’t even realize we were nominated,” program facilitator Eric Hargreaves tells Quinte News. “That in of itself is pretty amazing to think that people would do that for us.”
Hargreaves started the group with Rev. Diane Fisher over 25 years ago in the basement of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC).
“So we met with social workers and counsellors and some young folks. They just said we need a place where we can start living authentically and who we are. That was sort of the beginnings of it.” said Hargreaves.
Since then, every Tuesday, meetings are held to discuss “life’s challenges and benefits.”
The group is also offered as a resource, to find other support services and community events.
Hargreaves says it was “humbling and overwhelming” when the group found out they had won the award.
“I’m not really one to sort of promote self-promotion and all that kind of stuff. So it’s really very affirming,” Hargreaves said. “When I told (the youth) they were just like ‘wow’ you know? It was just another piece of recognition that they weren’t this marginalized community but that they were recognized by quite a prestigious organization.”
With the award win, Hargreaves says he hopes this opens the door for the group to be deemed a non-profit organization.
“We offer a meal every week and it’s always the facilitators that are donating the food. You know, we provide other supports for the youth. I think we would like to build on that and really let the community know, even though we’ve been around forever it seems, lots of people still don’t know about us.”
More information on the group and resources they offer can be found at the group’s website.
