At Provident10, we work hard to invest in our people. We know that promoting a healthy, safe, and supportive workplace is an investment that has immeasurable returns.
We continually look for ways to create an inclusive and caring culture, and we’re honoured to share that we are this year’s recipient of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Workplace Excellence Award.
This annual award is given to one organization in Newfoundland and Labrador that has promoted workplace mental health and demonstrated its commitment to fostering a safe and supportive work culture.
“We make a dedicated effort here at Provident10, to ensure psychological safety is taken into consideration throughout our programs, policies, and initiatives,” said Chuck Bruce, CEO, Provident10. “We are incredibly proud of this recognition from CMHA-NL. It reaffirms and validates the work that we are doing to ensure our employees feel valued, safe, and supported.”
Learn more about CMHA-NL by visiting their website.
Read the full release from CMHA-NL below:
CMHA-NL Hosts AGM and Presents Annual Mental Health Awards
St. John’s, NL – This week The Canadian Mental Health Association-NL (CMHA-NL) hosted its Annual General Meeting (AGM), celebrating a year of learning, advocacy, growth and community engagement. The AGM included the presentation of CMHA-NL’s Annual Mental Health Awards to recognize the significant contributions of individuals and organizations promoting mental health wellbeing, raising awareness, and supporting those living with mental illness.
“Coming together with our team and partners following a successful year was a powerful reminder of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Sean Kennedy, Board Chair, CMHA-NL. “As for the annual awards, our 2023 winners are inspiring and taking the time to celebrate their contributions to the mental health ecosystem is important.”
The 2023 AGM was a hybrid event, graciously hosted by a CMHA-NL partner Keyin College in St. John’s. The AGM celebrated the success of various initiatives, the addition of new staff members and welcomed several new board members. Members of the board now include: Sean Kennedy (Chair), Paul Preston, Twila Reid, Dorothy Keating, Craig Tucker, Gordon Hawkins, Brenda Dennis, Alison Greenoff, Jackie McCann-Scot, Fabian Connors, Chad Perrin and Dr. Kathleen Callanan.
Nucliq Biologics was guest presenter for the AGM. CMHA-NL has developed a partnership with Nucliq Biologics and will begin a pilot project with them in 2024 collaborating on the link between mental health and one’s healthy biome and gut health to enhance one’s mental wellbeing.
“Part of our focus moving forward is helping people understand the direct link between our physical health and mental wellbeing,” added Kennedy. “There are so many ways to improve, treat and support mental health when we can identify triggers and health indicators. Nucliq’s understanding of gut health and how it can affect our mental health is quite fascinating and we look forward to learning more.”
The annual mental health awards were also presented at the AGM. The five awards included the Leadership Award (2), the Pottle Award, the Research Scholarship Award and the Workplace Award.
The 2023 Award winners were:
Leadership Award: Vince Withers, Chair of the Eating Disorder Foundation of NL
Leadership Award: Just Us Women’s Centre, Stella’s Circle
Workplace Excellence Award: Provident10
Pottle Award: Dr. Greg Radu
Research Scholarship Award: Kaitlyn Lem
See below for additional information.
-30-
Media Contact:
Erin Curran
erin@lupinecommunications.com
709-325-7193
Background and Bios
Leadership Award: Vince Withers
The contributions of Vince Withers to the province as a business leader encompasses a broad scope of areas including education, economic development, civic involvement, and sports. The Leadership award recognizes one of his greatest accomplishments achieved through his dedication to mental health awareness and improvements to treatments and services.
In 2006 Vince founded the Eating Disorder Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, which he is still Chairperson of today. The Eating Disorder Foundation is an advocacy group dedicated to creating awareness and providing family support services and information on eating disorders. The many hours Vince spent engaging with clients and families helped shape the early years of the Foundation and built the framework for what it is today.
After establishing the Foundation, Vince played an integral role in the opening of the Renata Elizabeth Withers Outpatient Intensive Care Treatment Centre for HOPE in 2009. Then from 2010 to 2014, he served as Chairperson of the Provincial Ministerial Advisory Council for Mental Health and Addictions. This council advises the Minister of Health and Community Services on key mental health and addictions maters, and there he continued to advocate for new services to support the people of the province in their struggles with mental illness and addictions.
Vince’s advocacy continued and in 2018 the provincial government funded the creation of a 4-bed inpatient unit at the Health Science Centre. With the help of Vince’s unwavering determination, commitment, and activism over nearly two decades, Newfoundland & Labrador is now the leader in Atlantic Canada for the treatment of eating disorders.
Leadership Award: Just Us Women’s Centre, Stella’s Circle
Stella’s Circle is a nationally celebrated community organization with a mission to transform lives through their programs Real Homes, Real Help, and Real Work that offer counselling, as well as housing and employment support to adults facing barriers to inclusion in the community—including mental illness. As part of its Real Help services, the Just Us Women’s Centre has been providing counselling and support to women and gender diverse individuals with correctional histories since 2009. The Just Us staff have worked with 750 individuals at the Newfoundland & Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville and the community providing individual and group counselling, as well as peer and release support services.
In 2017 Just Us and Stella’s Circle integrated expressive therapies such as art, yoga, and horticulture into their offerings as an innovative approach to further support mental health. In 2018, Mitchell Hewson, the first registered horticultural therapist to practice in Canada, delivered training at Stella’s Circle. This led to the Just Us Women’s Centre starting a formal horticultural therapy program in 2022 at the Correctional Centre for Women to incorporate this practice of using plants and garden landscape to promote well-being. Working in the greenhouse provided the women opportunities to learn about nurturing plants and helping them grow, and to connect those learnings to their own care and growth. Now in its second year, the program continues to offer this valuable therapy and to date 37 inmates have participated, including those who were experiencing isolation within the correctional facility and were offered individualized one-on-one outdoor sessions. Last fiscal year 95% of the incarcerated women at the facility participated in Just Us counselling programs, including horticultural therapy.
Workplace Excellence Award: Provident10
Since being established in 2017, Provident10 has been committed to promoting mental health and the psychological well-being of its employees through forming a respectful workplace, improving mental health knowledge at all levels, and eliminating stigma. To create such an inclusive and psychologically safe environment requires the support of all staff, and especially managers and supervisors. Members of this organization’s leadership team showed their commitment to mental wellness by participating in Mental Health Leadership training in 2022. This company also strives to ensure employees feel safe and heard at work through an employee-driven Health & Wellness Commitee that includes members from several levels of the organization. This committee shares feedback they’ve heard from others and helps inform new strategies around wellness, including mental health. Over the past 6 years, this new and growing organization has continued to add a variety of mental health initiatives including:
- An Employee and Family Assistance Program that provides access to counselling services and a broad scope of practitioners.
- Expanded group insurance to incorporate Pharmacogenetic Testing
- On-site counselors to support employees and
- Opportunities to increase awareness and education around mental health such as: Mental Health First Aid Training, education sessions with CHANNAL, mindfulness sessions, internal platforms to share self-care practices, and summer wellness challenges.
Pottle Award: Greg Radu, MD, MBA, FRCPC
Dr. Radu’s tireless commitment, volunteerism, and continuous efforts to further mental health, have had profound impact on countless individuals, organizations, and communities both provincially and nationally.
Dr. Radu, from Romania, came to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2000. He started as a volunteer at the Waterford Hospital where he provided medical and nursing staff with assistance in patient care. Shortly after, he began pursuing training in psychiatry and psychotherapy. In 2010, Dr. Radu became Director of Psychotherapy Training in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University. In that role, he worked to develop a comprehensive clinical training program in psychotherapy for psychiatry and family medicine residents. The training program, still in existence, received national recognition and, as a result, Dr. Radu was elected as Chair of the Canadian Psychiatric Association’s Section of Psychotherapy in 2011 where he served two terms. Dr. Radu’s commitment and persistence in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of medical students led to his appointment to the role of Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Memorial University in 2018. Dr Radu was promoted to Associate Dean of Medical Learner Well-Being & Success in 2020 in recognition of going above and beyond his expected role.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, he spent countless hours outside of his significant responsibilities as physician and faculty, implementing and leading a well-being task force in the Faculty of Medicine. The impact of this support directly influenced the level of healthcare services provided to the public of Newfoundland and Labrador during a global pandemic.
In 2013, Dr. Radu began his volunteer service to the Newfoundland Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CHA) where he worked to build relationships between the Association, Memorial University, Regional Health Authority and the Provincial Government. He became Vice Chair of CMHA-NL in 2017 and has been Chair of the National Board of CMHA for the last two years where he has led Project Activate; an initiative to inspire collaboration and strengthen common action between all branches and divisions of CMHA for advocacy work, public education and community and government engagement. Dr. Radu’s dedication and volunteerism has tremendously impacted the areas of mental health and wellbeing in NL.
Research Scholarship Award: Kaitlyn Lem, BSc (Hons)
Kaitlyn joined the MUN-BMC team in September 2021 and assumed a leadership role on a CIHR-funded “Digitizing Stepped Mental Health Care” grant where she is working with provincial governments to evaluate the implementation of stepped mental healthcare within NB, NL, and PEI. This project encompasses more than 40 scientific experts across North America and is being conducted in collaboration with provincial governments in NB, NL and PEI, technology partners (i.e., GreenSpace Health), government agencies (i.e., Mental Health Commission of Canada, and Canada Health Infoway), and non-profit agencies (e.g., CHANNAL). In specific, Kaitlyn is championing a project to implement measurement-based care through a digital health platform in collaboration with the government of NL, and One Health Authority. More than 70 health care professionals who work within Mental Health & Addictions services and Primary Care Collaborative clinics have signed-on to participate in this project which commenced in September 2023. Kaitlyn is involved in all aspects of this project which forms the basis of her dissertation research.