Foundry Prince George held its official opening celebration Thursday afternoon.
Foundry, located beside YAP (Youth Around Prince) at 1148 Seventh Avenue, is an integrated health and social service centre for youth to access any wellness service they require, including primary care, mental health care and treatment for substance use.
Services offered will be coordinated in a comprehensive stepped-care model, so the greater the need, the greater the support.
There are more than a dozen partners involved in the project including the Native Friendship Centre, Intersect, Northern Health, Northern B.C. YMCA and the Ministry of Children and Family.
During the opening ceremony there were several people from the community saying a few words, including Amanda Alexander, CEO of the YMCA of Northern BC, sponsors and Judy Darcy, minister for Mental Health and Addictions.
"Foundry is about community, about strength, it's about resilience and it's about being welcoming," Darcy said.
"There are too many young people in our community and right across British Columbia who are struggling today with mental health and with addictions who desperately need support like the kind of support that is being offered by Foundry.
They are trying to navigate a mental health system that is often very complicated, that is uncoordinated, fragmented and often has huge gaps and we know that 70 per cent of serious mental health issues develop before age of 25. I think that puts in context how important a place like Foundry is."
She also said it is a known fact that mental health and addictions often go hand-in-hand and sadly, stigma often stands in the way of people being able to access the care and support they need.
"We also know that early intervention is absolutely critical and that it can be a matter of life and death," Darcy said. "People across British Columbia are struggling too much to get access to the services that they need. We need to break down those silos and that's what Foundry's all about. Integration is absolutely critical."
Darcy said it is her ministry's goal, like the Foundry's, to make sure everyone who needs support for mental health and addictions gets the care they need.
"The Foundry brings health care, mental health care, addictions and social services all under one roof, making it easy, fast and inviting for young people to come in and know they will have access to the support services they need," Darcy said.
