Projects
Workshop 1 and 2
Mental Health Workshop
Submitted by Mental Health Committee Co-Chairs
Sheila Montney (ND) and Dr. Tracey Bone (U of M)
(Scan this for ASL Translation)
In 2014, Deaf Centre Manitoba Inc (DCM Inc) had partnership with nine Deaf organizations to host
Mental Health workshop/Conference. Partnership organizations were 1) Canadian Mental Health
Association (CMHA) 2) Deaf Centre Manitoba Inc (DCM Inc) 3) E-Quality Communication Centre of
Excellence (ECCOE) 4) Manitoba Deaf Association (MDA) 5) Manitoba School for the Deaf (MSD) 6) New
Directions (ND) 7) Society for Manitobans with Disabilities (SMD) and 8) Red River College (RRC), and 9)
University of Manitoba (U of M). They hosted a Mental Workshop in September 2014 with fifty-nine in
attendance. They also hosted a two-day Mental Health Conference in October 2014. On Friday, October
17th, there were 118 people in attendance. On Saturday, October 18th, there were 119 people in
Attendance. There were various of people in attendance- Deaf, hearing, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind.
The two-day Conference had a variety of guest speaker including Dr. Tracey Bone, Dr. Jamie MacDougall
and Dr. Cathy Chovaz, all presenting on Mental Health issues related to the Deaf and hard of hearing
communities. The Mental Health workshop/Conference was funded by Winnipeg Foundation. Many
thanks to Winnipeg Foundation for their grant support toward this. It was huge successful!
Approximately 8 years later, the year of 2022, many in the Deaf Community faced huge challenges with
Mental Health due to COVID-19 Pandemic. The Deaf Community felt it was time to have Mental Health
workshop/conference again. Several Deaf and other Organizations had several meetings to discuss and
establish Mental Health Workshop/Conference. There are five Deaf Organizations and one University
working together to host Mental Health Workshops and a Conference in 2023/2024. They are: 1. Deaf
Centre Manitoba Inc (DCM Inc) 2. Manitoba Deaf Association (MDA) 3. Manitoba Possible (MP) 4. New
Directions (ND) 5. Resource Centre for Manitoba with Deaf Blind (RCMDB) and 5. University of Manitoba
(U of M). There are Mental Health Committee established with various positions. They are: 1) CoChairperson- Sheila Montney (ND) and Dr. Tracey Bone (U of M); 2) Secretary – Shawna Joynt (MDA); 3)
Treasurer- Alexandra Calbay-Martin (DCM Inc); 4) Registration Chairperson- Caroline Toews (RCMDB); 5)
Public Relation Chairperson- Alexandra Calbay-Martin (DCM Inc); 6) Accommodations- Doug Momotiuk
(DCM Inc & MDA); 7) Accessibility Chairperson – Susanne Beriault (ND); and 8) Guest Speaker
Coordinator- Jenna-Irwin Lee (MP).
The Mental Health Committee have worked hard by attending bi-weekly Zoom meetings. When the
workshop date approached, they have weekly committee meetings to ensure the event is well
organized. Mental Health Workshop #1 occurred on Monday, January 30th at 285 Pembina Inc building
(also called Deaf Centre Manitoba building) on 285 Pembina Highway. The workshop was held in the
Affleck and Fiola Room from 12 pm to 4 pm with a guest speaker from Canadian Mental Health
Association (CMHA). The guest speakers were Stacey Krueger and Arreti Danos. Her presentation was
focus on “Introduction to Mental Health”. Fifty-four people attended from various Deaf, hearing, Hard
of Hearing and Deaf-Blind communities. They all really enjoyed the presentation. The feedback we got
was they would like to see the presenter focus more on Mental Health resource for Deaf/HoH, not as
broad topic. There was more desire from the people to register but unfortunately with COVID policy at
285 Pembina Inc., the maximum number of people in attendance which was fifty-four. After the
workshop, there was light refreshments for the people in attendance to enjoy and mingle around. There
were some people from the Mental Health Media Team to interview some people in relation to Mental
Health issues.
The committee was very happy with the outcome with the Mental Health Workshop #1 but also wanted
to improve better for the next workshop #2. The committee decided to seek an alternative location that
could fit with larger number so more people could attend. The second workshop was held at Canad Inn
Polo Park on Thursday, February 23rd from 12 pm to 4 pm. They booked a larger room that could
accommodate up to 100 people. The second workshop was a presentation by Erin Phillips, Public
Education Trainer from Klinic Community Health Centre on “Calm in the Storm”. There were sixty-five
people registered but only twenty-seven people in attendance. After the workshop the people had the
chance to eat light refreshment and mingle around. Some also had the chance to interview with the
Mental Health Media Team again.
Both workshops were funded by the Manitoba Accessibility Fund (MAF). The fund for Mental Health
Workshop will come to an end March 31st. Right now, the committee must submit the final report with
an expense budget to MAF. We are now in process of re-applying for another grant to continue with
ongoing Mental Health Workshops in 2023-2024. However, the good news, we got approved from
Winnipeg Foundation Grant which will sponsor the two-day Mental Health Conference for either Fall
2023 or Winter/Spring 2024. Keep eye on the upcoming announcement for Mental Health Conference!!
Please see attached for several pictures from Workshop #1 (Jan 30th) and Workshop #2 (February 23rd).
If you have any questions about Mental Health Workshop/Conference, please feel free to reach out to
Co-Chairperson -Sheila Montney (Sheila.Montney@newdirections.mb.ca) or Dr. Tracey Bone
(Tracey.Bone@umanitoba.ca ).
Dr. Tracey Bone and Sheila Montney (Mental Health Co-Chairperson) welcome everyone at the
Workshop #1 on Monday, Jan 30th and introduced themselves to the audience.
Picture attached: February 23rd, 2023, Workshop #2 on “Calm in the Storm”
On February 23rd, group of people -Deaf, Hard of Hearing, hearing, Deaf-Blind are in audience watching
the presenters.
