Current Initiatives
Youth Services Gap Analysis for the Cowichan Region
In 2024, the McCreary report identified that youth in the Cowichan region were experiencing a mental health crisis, with 43% of youth reporting that their mental health is poor or fair. To better understand the state of youth services in the region, CWHC undertook a gap analysis research initiative in collaboration with leading organizations within the sector. The resulting report provides an overview of the sector's state in 2024. It also serves as a road map for the industry to build on its strengths and address the gaps and issues that were identified. The key challenge is to meet the needs of youth today while ensuring that children get the supports they need sooner, to prevent a continuation of the youth mental health crisis. The final report can be found here.
Project Advisory Committee members:
Adrien Haddock, Youth Services Team Lead, Canadian Mental Health Association – Cowichan Branch
Cher White, Team Lead, Post Majority Team, Kw’umut Lelum
Cindy Lise, Regional Facilitator, Our Cowichan Community Health Network
Douglas Hardie, Program Coordinator, Discovery Youth Services
Jeff Rowan, Assistant Superintendent of Communications and Community Relations, Cowichan Valley School District No. 79
Lise Haddock, ED, Canadian Mental Health Association – Cowichan Branch
Madeline Joe, Community Member
Patricia Seymour, Family physician
Zoe Lauckner, ED, Cowichan Valley Youth Services, and her predecessor, Ryan Naylor, and Wendy Montgomery, who filled in between these two.
CWHC Research Team:
Bev Suderman, Research Lead/Coordinator, and Brenda Reid-Kuecks, Delphine Koyote, Kate Koyote, Sinthu Ratnasami, Sophia Yeh, and Tim Garthside.
Project funders:
1. Social Planning and Research Council of BC
2. Our Cowichan Community Health Network
Link to Executive Summary
Addressing Period Poverty in Cowichan
Testing approaches to meeting the needs of vulnerable women in the Cowichan region
Period Poverty means not being able to get menstrual products and hygiene opportunities when they are needed that are of your choosing, fit your body and your needs, and are of good quality, affordable, sustainable, and in the amount you need.
Period poverty is a community issue. Increasing access to menstrual products for people with limited resources will make Cowichan a healthier place where the needs of its citizens are recognized and addressed. This community-based action research project explored the stigma around menstruation and ways in which products can be more readily made available in the community through working collaboratively with local partners.
One way CWHC explored barriers to menstrual equity was through Photovoice, a way to express lived experience of period poverty. Photography allows an expression of lived experience and creates space for alternate voices in research about social justice issues. The images ground the abstract concepts of menstrual equity and period poverty, by providing concrete examples of how women can be distressed or frustrated by their periods. The Photovoice exhibition at the CVAC Studio (part of the Cowichan Community Centre), was on display from October 24 – November 10, 2023, and attracted approximately 1100 viewers.
Find out more in our FINAL REPORT.
Free period products can be found in many public buildings, including the Margaret Moss Public Health Unit.
