Partner Promotion - Mental Health Copilots
mental health copilots - Krystin (Program Director)
A big part of The Today Centre’s ability to provide our clients connection to vital resources is possible through the partnerships we have with organizations in and around Edmonton. These partnerships allow our Family Violence Specialist team to connect our clients with further support beyond what we are able to provide them here at The Today Centre. Whether it is from finding housing and shelter, legal assistance, English Language Learning programs, applying for EPOs (Emergency Protection Orders), mental health support, or more, the partnerships we make with other organizations enable us to connect our clients to help they need beyond assistance with family violence. These partnerships are vital to the services we provide! And did you know that we have partnerships with over 50 organizations in Edmonton and area? We truly value each and every partnership we make!
Since these partnerships are so important to the work that we do and the service we can provide our clients, we wanted to highlight some of them in a partner promotion series. We sat down with Krystin, the Program Director at Mental Health Copilots, to ask a few questions about the services MHC provides and what our partnership with them looks like. Check out her answers below!
about mental health copilots
What is mental health copilots(MHC)? Who does MHC serve?
Mental Health Copilots (MHC) is a non-profit organization that connects Albertans to mental health resources. We exist to help people find supports that fit their needs and preferences (location, language, price, provider, specialties, etc.), which can be a very time-consuming and disheartening process without someone to help guide you. We serve all Albertans however, anyone under 18 must have an adult contact MHC on their behalf.
MHC offers two totally free services:
First, you can book an appointment with a Client Copilot volunteer. This person will meet with you virtually or over the phone to ask some questions about what you’re looking for in a mental health provider. Then, they’ll take a few days (maximum a week) to research resources before presenting you with 3 - 5 possible provider options. If they’re a great fit, perfect! The Copilot will make sure you know how to book an appointment and review any feedback you have after your first appointment. If there providers aren’t the right fit, that’s completely okay - the Copilot will repeat the process to look for some additional options.
Second, you can search MHC’s publicly accessibly database of mental health providers, which is listed on our website (www.mentalhealthcopilots.org). There are several filters you can use to narrow down your search, which is a great option for folks who prefer to look for resources on their own.
Is there a set of criteria mental health providers are required to meet in order to be named in MHC’s database?
To be listed in our database, a provider must belong to a professional association with the legal authority to self-regulate in Alberta and they must be in good standing with this professional association. Our site includes a range of designations such as Registered Psychologists, Clinical Social Workers, and Canadian Certified Counsellors (and more).
MHC’s Database Team is devoted to maintaining our database. Expanding our listings is important but we also place a lot of emphasis on keeping entries accurate. Things change all the time; providers start/stop working out of different offices, they may receive new credentials, or develop or reduce waitlists, etc. As such, we reach out to providers in our database periodically to ensure older entries are still up-to-date.
What’s the history of mental health copilots? Where did MHC start? How long has it been around?
Jay Brinker, a Clinical Psychologist and current MHC Director, came up with the concept for our organization. In 2019 she gifted it to a group of students at the University of Alberta, where she was teaching at the time, as a part of a project in an Introduction to Psychology course. Chair of the Board, Amanda Montey, and Treasurer, Branden Leduc, founded MHC alongside Meghan Regier, and it’s since grown from a team of about ten serving Edmonton, to a team of about fourty serving the entire province.
At present, MHC has seven different teams. Community Networking volunteers connect with various organizations to inform folks about our services. Our Client Copilot volunteers meet with clients and research resources for them, and volunteers on our Database Team curate a list of mental health resources. Digital Communications volunteers manage our social media presence, Funding Team volunteers develop grant applications
and fundraising events, and our Technology team looks at the tech side of MHC. Finally, our Leadership volunteers support other volunteers and provide strategic planning!
We’ve also celebrated some major milestones lately! In September 2022, we hired our first contractor with funding from the Government of Alberta’s Community Initiatives Program (CIP) Operating Grant. This past April, we obtained charitable status from the CRA, and in June, we hosted our first-ever Annual General Meeting! We’ve also been working on some exciting projects, including implementing a new HR and database software, creating a new website, and producing a corporate sponsorship package.
Mental health copilots services
How many people has MHC assisted so far? What’s the growth of the organization?
Between March 2020 and April 2023, we had 564 clients reach out to us. We were still pretty new when COVID-19 hit but that was a particularly challenging mental health period for many people, so demand for our services exploded. We had our busiest month (from an intake perspective) in March of 2020, when about thirty people (about one person a day) filled out our contact form. We actually had to run a waitlist for a little while because so many people were requesting to work with a Client Copilot volunteer! Fortunately, we’ve done a lot of work lately to improve our policies, manuals, and onboarding processes so that we can bring new volunteers onto the team more quickly and effectively.
how are people able to access your services?
Our mental health provider database and intake form link are listed on our website! To book with a Client Copilot, we just need to know the person’s name, email, and contact preferences, and a volunteer will reach out to kick off the process. Folks can choose to connect with a Client Copilot via phone, Google Meet video call, or Google Chat instant messaging; we’re a virtual organization so we don’t offer any in-person meetings.
A few things to be aware of:
Clients who prefer phone calls will receive a phone call from an unlisted number to protect volunteer confidentiality. We do not offer text messaging.
If someone under 18 would like to access our services, they must have an adult reach out to MHC on their behalf. All correspondence will be sent to the adult but the youth is welcome to attend appointments with the adult.
What are your agency’s core values?
I’m happy you asked because our Board of Directors recently voted on them! Our core values have the acronym CARE. They stand for:
Collaboration
Accessibility
Respect
Evolution
What do referrals to your organization look like? How do we as a service provider direct someone to you?
Our linking protocol with The Today Centre makes referrals quite simple. If someone accessing services through The Today Centre would like to be connected to a Client Copilot volunteer, a Today Centre representative would help them complete MHC’s brief intake form and we would follow up from there. For folks who would prefer to use MHC’s database to look for resources on their own, a Today Centre representative would provide MHC’s website address. Conversely, if a client discloses information about family violence to a Client Copilot and would like to connect with a qualified, knowledgeable professional, MHC would refer them to The Today Centre.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’d like to express our appreciation for the linking protocol that we have with The Today Centre and for the important work the staff at The Today Centre do. Your organization is an invaluable resource for supporting community members’ safety and well-being.