Mellanie, are you able to talk to us about this award? What does this award entail, and what does it mean to get it?
“I didn’t even know about it - it’s called the Professional Care Award by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Cynthia Shelley, my Director, was the one who nominated me for all the work I’ve done in our community advocating for mental health. So, what it means to me…it was a complete shock and a complete honour. I don’t do this work for the accolades, but it was nice to be recognised for the work I’ve been doing in the community.”
Can you speak on the work done in the community and the progression of resources? How far has the progression come from when you started this position?
“Well, I worked in different positions in the school division for mental health - I originally worked as a counsellor, so I did a lot of universal support in schools, which means going into classrooms and doing the work on a broader scale to get as many students involved to understand mental health. I started doing specialised groups as I recognised the community’s more significant need for mental health and awareness. The biggest thing is, nowadays, there are many interested people in the community who are very curious and recognise how some kind of mental health has genuinely impacted their stories and families.”
You mentioned the impact not only mental health has had but Fort McMurray in the last couple of years dealing with various kinds of adversities. Can you discuss the importance of mental health resources, especially in schools?
“I think because of all the compound traumas between the fire, the flood, COVID and the downturn of our economy, individuals who have experienced mental health issues have been more impacted in recent years. The need in our schools to accommodate that has become overwhelming. School counsellors in our public schools have been dealing with really complex needs that school counsellors have never dealt with in the past. Because there are such significant waitlists for agencies in the community with Alberta Health Services and counselling services with private practitioners, school counsellors have to do so much more to pick up the slack because they don’t have the opportunity to get help in the community. Counsellors have a bigger job and are actively trying to access more classroom supports, going into classrooms to do a full variety of mental health topics and teaching children awareness at a very young age so that they can start learning how to self-advocate.”
Can you talk about some initiatives and programs you’ve worked on CMHA with?
“I’ve been on the board of Some Other Solutions (S.O.S) for the last three years; in that work, I volunteer to help advocate mental health in our community. I work closely with the director of Some Other Solutions to support their staff, support the community to find the community’s needs, and try to provide programming or ideas of new ways to support the town. That is why, when we started our podcast, it was important that individuals and their counsellors at S.O.S could use that podcast as additional resources. I also work with their mentors coming into our schools; I work closely with them to ensure they get the support they need to work with children.”
Do you have any closing remarks about the award?
“This award means so much to me because of what recognition it could bring to mental health. I think the more conversations we can have about mental health, the more it’s going to be accepted as everyday language in our lives. In a school system specifically, I feel very blessed to work with a wide variety of individuals, and I think this award brings me some accolades…promotions in the community. I’m hoping more people will recognize that and say, ‘hey, maybe this is someone I can reach out to and is trusted.’”
Congratulations again to FMPSD’s Inclusive Education Supervisor of Mental Health, Mellanie Fraser, on receiving the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Professional Care Award.
For additional information, contact:
Momin Syed
Communications Coordinator
Fort McMurray Public School Division
780-788-8009
communications@fmpsd.ab.ca