Student mental well-being has been given some real help, thanks to a grant that will turn Niagara College’s Wellness Lounges into a virtual support space.
Niagara College recently received $15,000 from the Niagara Community Foundation (NCF) to take its Wellness Lounges online to help students as they live and study remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant was made possible the by Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF).
This is the second recent grant the College has received from the NCF, the other being for $50,000 for the Nourishing Minds program.
The funding to transition the Wellness Lounge’s peer-to-peer support services to a formal online forum after operating for months over social media was much-needed, said Jay Burdon, Associate Director of Health, Wellness and Accessibility at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus at Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Prior to the first pandemic lockdown in March 2020, the most common issues discussed in the Wellness Lounges, located at both Niagara College campuses, were anxiety and depression, he explained. But other concerns have become more pressing as students continue living and studying with limited or no campus access.
“It’s really because of social isolation and loneliness that people are experiencing during lockdown so having online virtual support is really critical through this time,” Burdon said. “People who were already struggling with anxiety and depression, when you factor in loneliness and isolation, it amplifies the magnitude of their anxiety and depression. And for people who are just starting to struggle with loneliness and isolation, with no support it can lead to anxiety and depression.”
Wellness Lounges originally opened at both Niagara campuses in February 2020 in response to a growing need for student mental health support. The lounges were an initiative of the College’s Health, Wellness, and Accessibility Services and the NC Student Administrative Council (NC SAC). They were made possible by funding from NC SAC and a donation from Wise Guys Charity Fund.
The lounges were set up in common and easily accessible areas. They were equipped with comfortable furniture to provide students with opportunities to drop-in and engage with trained wellness peers about common student challenges, such as feeling lonely, sadness and stress, and to help them access resources on and off campus.
More than 120 students tapped into Wellness Lounge services during the six weeks they were open before campuses closed last March in response to the pandemic. Numbers like that show just how essential the lounges were to students — and how it’s critical those services continue even if another forum, said Tom Price, NC SAC President.
“A virtual lounge is exciting as it will allow for the creation of new activities and supports for this vital students-supporting-students initiative,” he said.
Still, Wellness Peers stopped working during the first lockdown and didn’t start again until last fall when they used Instagram to connect with students needing help.
“But not every student wants to use Instagram or was comfortable with it,” said Karen Csoli, Associate Director of Health, Wellness and Accessibility at the Welland Campus. “To know there was this opportunity, that funding was available to us, was just exciting to me. At a time when our need was so great, that organizations are putting money forward for colleges and universities, for me it’s a sign of understanding the community need.”
The NCF-ECSF grant will enable the purchase of a new interactive platform where Wellness Peers will be able to schedule group activities and sessions about self-compassion, mindfulness, time-management, resilience, gratitude, cultivating peace, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. Wellness Peers will also be available for one-on-one conversations during dedicated virtual drop-in hours.
“The Wellness Lounges are a place for students to engage and flourish, and to talk with someone going through the same experiences as other students right now,” Csoli said. “And they can actively speak to wellness and reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health.”
Once up and running, virtual Wellness Lounge hours during the winter term will be:
- Mondays, 9 a.m. to noon: Creative Corner, streaming craft activities, drumming, etc.
- Wednesdays 5-8 p.m.: Gaming Night where students can game with a peer via Discord.
- Thursday 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.: Streaming martial arts classes. Videos on cooking low-cost meals will also be streamed during the day.
- Fridays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Mornings with Lizeth. Lizeth will post short videos with instructions for stretches, meditations, exercise.
