Improving Mental Health Services in the Jane and Finch Community

Introductionx These many assets of the Jane and Finch area serve as vital supports to residents, many of whom1face significant stress related to unemployment, low income, immigration and other risk factors forImproving mental health services in the Jane and Finch communityThe part of Toronto broadly identified as Jane and Finch is one of the city’s most diverse andvibrant communities, culturally and linguistically rich and comprising countless, tightly-knit supportnetworks. Many of the area’s residents have a strong commitment to and pride in their community.Community members have developed over 30 grassroots organizations, including social, legal,educational, religious/spiritual, artistic, cultural and health services.poor physical and mental health. These day-to-day challenges can result in high levels of anxiety,depression and other mental health issues for community members. Among the different kinds ofsupports in Jane and Finch, however, there are few mental health services. Moreover, many of themental health services that exist do not adequately reflect the diversity of the community in termsof people’s culture, language or both. This gap in services can be a barrier to community members’ability and desire to access needed supports.To try to bridge this gap, LOFT Community Services came together with other members of theNorth West Community Mental Health Network (NWCMHN), a group of agencies and organizationsserving the Jane and Finch area. The NWCMHN proposed a project to try to find out what differentcommunity members thought about mental health, what kinds of experiences they had had withmental health services in the community, and how they thought these mental health services couldbe improved, especially in ways to make them more culturally appropriate and accessible. TheNWCMHN received funding for this project from the Community Research Capacity EnhancementProgram at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).Introduction