Help needed for Emergency Fund

WINDSOR, ON / April 1, 2020: Emergency assistance is needed for some of the most at risk clients facing mental health issues of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA-WECB). Our Client Assistance Fund is in need of funds due to increased needs from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are trying to fulfill physical distancing rules whenever possible and that means increased use of phone calls and online meetings. Many clients are running out of phone data and minutes and struggling to pay to increase phone plans,” says Kim Willis, Director, Communications and Mental Health Promotion, CMHA-WECB.

“They also now need taxi vouchers to get to appointments and for food with the recent suspension of bus service in Windsor.”

Willis says the Sole Focus Project is donating $10,000 to the fund but more may be needed to assist with short-term needs for our most at risk clients. In a “normal” year $20,000 is needed to sustain the Client Assistance Fund. Given the economic impact of COVID-19, as well as the limitations it has placed on service delivery, we expect to see a spike in this usage, now and over the coming months.

Attached are details on the set up of this Emergency Fund.

“We know there are many needs right now and we are working to reduce the need for anyone to end up in the hospital or even clinics.”