How can we make our community more caring?

Applications for the second cycle of Campus Mental Health Strategy (CMHS) grants are now open, and we’re asking you for your big ideas.

For many, funding can be the biggest barrier to pursuing ideas that make campus a better place. Launched in 2017, the CMHS grant program offers annual grants of up to $10,000, empowering students, faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars to play a larger role in developing initiatives that foster positive mental health and wellness.

Open to the entire campus community, individuals or groups, including student clubs, wellness committees and colleagues, are encouraged to apply. Through the application process, applicants must demonstrate how their proposed project will improve mental health and well-being on campus, and specifically, how it satisfies at least one of the 28 recommendations of the strategy.

“Although we have various programs, initiatives, and projects on campus that address mental health and fulfil the recommendations in the CMHS, we also believe our community members have many great ideas, and with a little funding, can help improve campus life,” says Andrew Szeto, director of the Campus Mental Health Strategy.

“This type of grassroots approach draws on the experiences and expertise of our community, making initiatives more relevant and engaging because they are created for the community, by the community.”

CMHS grant program offers funding and support for diverse mental health initiatives

In 2017, the CMHS funded seven projects with a range of emphases, including body awareness, mental health disclosure, ADHD skill development, and international students’ success. Although tackling different areas of wellness, each initiative seeks to support the CMHS objective of making our community a more caring place.

Recently, during reading week in February, RenewFest offered several days of free events to engage faculty and staff in wellness activities while encouraging them to connect with their colleagues.

“What’s great about the CMHS grant program is that anyone can apply — it doesn’t necessarily need to be a specific department or faculty or group. Everyone has an opportunity to be involved and have their ideas listened to,” says Dominique MacDonald, aquatic manager of Active Living and RenewFest committee member.

“Moving forward on planning the second year of RenewFest was contingent on receiving funds from the CMHS grant, and we were delighted to have been one of the recipients,” add RenewFest committee members Heather Smith-Watkins and Miranda Dallalba.

“In our view, providing funding for community-led projects demonstrates the CMHS’s ongoing commitment to mental health initiatives on campus. Applying for a grant is a great opportunity to learn about the CMHS and to work together with like-minded people to support better mental health in our campus community.”

Apply for a CMHS grant by April 30

Students, faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars are encouraged to read the Campus Mental Health Strategy and think about how they can contribute meaningfully to campus mental health via the CMHS grants program. Multiple grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded in June.

Need some inspiration? Check out the 2017 grant winners' projects and start thinking about how you can put your big (or small) idea into action.

The University of Calgary’s Campus Mental Health Strategy is a bold commitment to the importance of mental health and well-being of our university family. Our vision is to be a community where we care for each other, learn and talk about mental health and well-being, receive support as needed, and individually and collectively realize our full potential.