Nova Scotia announces $3 million for mental health and addictions projects

Eligible organizations and services will be able to apply for funding in the form of grants

CITYnews halifax \ Canadian Press

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HALIFAX — The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is getting $3 million in provincial funding for mental health and addictions projects.

Beginning this summer, the province says eligible organizations and services will be able to apply for funding in the form of grants administered by the foundation.

Priority will be given to organizations that serve Indigenous communities, members of LGBTQ communities, African Nova Scotians, new arrivals in the province and people with disabilities.

As well, organizations that assist people who face insecure housing, poverty, violence, trauma and social isolation will be eligible to apply for the grants.

The foundation received over $1.6 million in similar funding in December 2020.

According to the province, 106 mental health and addictions programs were funded through 78 different organizations.

Brian Comer, minister responsible for the Office of Addictions and Mental Health, said the new funding comes at a crucial time.

“The pandemic has been an especially challenging time for those with mental illness and addictions, particularly for groups who were already facing barriers to accessing support,” Comer said in a news release Wednesday.

Starr Cunningham, president and CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, said the need for the funding support has never been greater.

“By increasing the number of community grants we fund, we are empowering organizations from one end of our province to the other,” Cunningham said.

The funding comes after the province announced Tuesday that it was providing $2 million for the development of a Mi’kmaq mental health and addictions strategy.

That funding is to be administered by Tajikeimik — a new health and wellness organization that  is a collaboration between the province’s 13 Mi’kmaq First Nations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2022.

The Canadian Press