RBC Royal Bank Donates $500,000 as Part of the 28th National Suicide Prevention Week to Facilitate Early Detection of Suicidal Behaviours in East End Montréal Youth
9 February 2018
Montréal, February 8, 2018 – Higher levels of poverty and vulnerability in east end Montréal foster a greater prevalence of mental health issues and an increased risk of suicidal behaviours, namely in youth. In order to help counter this phenomenon, RBC Royal Bank has donated $500,000 to the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont Foundation to support the implementation of a mental health first aid training program intended for adults who work with east end youth. A first in Quebec!
“Thanks to this generous donation from RBC Royal Bank, we will enable community players to promptly recognize at-risk youth and provide them with better support, declared Pierre Nelis, President of the HMR Foundation Board of Directors. I wish to thank them from the bottom of my heart for their invaluable support. This donation will have such a significant impact as it transforms real lives over the next few years.”
The Mental Health First Aid training program draws on a desire to rethink services for 12-25-year-olds exhibiting suicidal behaviours in order to improve early detection and intervention. The program will be rolled out through the creation of a team of expert trainers among HMR Child Psychiatry staff. In turn, they will share their knowledge with a network of monitors who work in the field: educators, teachers, family physicians, CLSC and youth centre staff, among others.
“I see this as a structuring project that makes the most of every existing resource to combat mental health issues in an innovative way. Indeed, I would like to acknowledge the visionary spirit of our hospital partners who implemented this project in Quebec,” said Nadine Renaud-Tinker, President, Quebec Headquarters, RBC Royal Bank.
Also in attendance for the announcement of this major donation: Yvan Gendron, President & CEO of the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Julie Provencher, Director, Youth Program and Public Health Activities and Lucie Drapeau, Executive Director of the HMR Foundation.
About the HMR Foundation
As a key partner for the past 40 years, the HMR Foundation has supported the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in its strategic development orientations in order to respond more effectively to patient needs. Strongly determined to make a difference, the Foundation supports projects for the ongoing improvement of patient care, to enhance teaching and to expand research. The Foundation solicits the financial support of individual donors, private foundations, partners and corporations. Collectively, they recognize the excellence of care provided to patients at the HMR, an outstanding hospital centre affiliated with the Université de Montréal.
