The following article was submitted by Theresa Anzovino and Jamie Oresar, professors of Sociology and Equity Studies in NC’s School of Liberal Studies:

On March 15, a virtual panel presentation was hosted with NC Community and Justice Services student Grant Hudson and NC Social Service Worker program alumni Kariann Gracey, Christopher Allan and Adam Coleman, who facilitated a transformational learning experience for current students studying diversity and mental health and addictions through NC’s School of Liberal Studies.

The panelists introduced students to their work in community agencies and the issues and trends they are observing with respect to mental health and addictions. NC students had an opportunity to hear and understand what is happening in the community from the perspectives of those working on the front lines and with lived experience. Increased need for support during the COVID-19 pandemic was a common theme and the students listening in were impacted greatly by the experiences of the panelists.

One student shared, “I was so looking forward to today and it did not disappoint. You know when you have an amazing inspirational thing happen in your life, and you know it will never be the same – that was what today was for me.” Another student commented, “today shattered me it was so powerful – in a good way,” while a third student stated, “I was one of those people who did not agree with harm reduction…totally changed my opinion.”

Meet the panelists and find out what they are doing in the field of mental health and addictions

Grant Hudson is a current student in Niagara College’s Community and Justice Services program. Hudson’s position with Community Addiction Services of Niagara (CASON) is based on his lived experience with mental health and addiction. When he completed a student placement with CASON last term, Hudson was offered the position of youth peer support outreach worker, working alongside the youth team supporting clients and being available for 24-hour support through call or text. Hudson is currently working with the SMART recovery team at CASON facilitating group counselling and support meetings on Wednesday nights. Hudson and NC grad Adam Coleman are both currently working through online training to be certified to run a new project CASON hopes to roll out very soon. This project will be strictly youth smart recovery.

Hudson is also currently partnering with two outside agencies in the St. Catharines downtown area. The first agency is STEPS Youth Resource Centre where, every Monday, he spends time supporting youth, taking part in the programming they offer, building rapport and offering his knowledge on addictions and mental health. The second agency he has partnered with is Positive Living StreetWorks. Every Thursday evening, Hudson accompanies staff in the outreach vans offering clean supplies and supporting clients using the harm reduction model.

Adam Coleman graduated from Niagara College’s Social Service Worker program in 2020 and has an Honours BA in Child and Youth Studies with a minor in Music from Brock University and plays a mean tenor saxophone. Coleman has been working in social services for over three years and currently works for four separate agencies: full-time with Community Addiction Services of Niagara (CASON) as a youth/emerging adult outreach addictions counsellor; part-time casual with Pathstone Mental Health as a child/youth relief worker; in multiple clinical positions at Withdrawal Management Services (detox) as a program worker; and at Canadian Mental Health Association as a safe beds worker.

Coleman is currently with the OCSWSSW as a registered social service worker. His primary work revolves around mental health and addiction ongoing counselling services and providing weekly sessions for folks between 15 to 25 years of age. Coleman also co-leads a Youth Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) skills group and is in the process of training to facilitate youth SMART recovery meetings alongside NC student Grant Hudson.

He writes, “As a queer person, a lot of my interests include exploring addiction/mental health in youth and young adults who identify in minority groups (primarily 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities).” Coleman’s future goals include becoming a registered therapist, obtaining his Masters of Social Work and seeing where this wild world of social work takes him.

Christopher Allan is a graduate of Niagara College’s Police Foundations and Social Service Worker Program (2020). While a student at NC he accumulated nearly 2000 hours of volunteer service hours, participated in NC’s Be World Ready program that involved four trips around the world to Amsterdam, Peru, South Korea, and Guatemala and was elected by the student body to serve as NCSAC’s director of Community Services.

Allan is currently the executive secretary for Arid Recovery Homes, which provides supportive housing for those working on their sobriety. Arid was his first placement while in the SSW program. Today, he is employed full-time as StreetWorks outreach worker for Positive Living Niagara. StreetWorks is a harm reduction program that provides safe injection and inhalation supplies to people in the Niagara Region. They work with the individuals they help, providing support with where they are at in their substance use.

Kariann Gracey is a graduate of Niagara College (Social Service Worker, 2020) and Brock University. In 2020, she was the recipient of the Governor General’s Academic Medal, one of the most prestigious awards a Canadian student can receive.

Gracey has worked at Family and Children’s Services as a child protection worker since May 2020. She currently works as part of the Indigenous Services Team pilot, a child welfare team that serves Indigenous families to increase collaboration and support families to increase safety for their children with a focus on wrap-around service connection within the community, especially by way of Indigenous programming. This team is working to challenge mainstream child welfare thinking to divert from court involvement and removals wherever possible to keep Indigenous children connected to their families of origin and their culture, working toward considerations outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Gracey also works as a Streetworks mobile outreach worker for Positive Living Niagara since April 2019 and is a strong advocate for harm reduction principles in fostering self-determination in individuals who use substances.

Inspired by the work of the panelists, students asked where they could volunteer to help. The panelists provided the following links:

positivelivingniagara.com/service-provider/volunteer
pathstonementalhealth.ca/volunteer
distresscentreniagara.com/volunteer/
facsniagara.on.ca/become-a-volunteer/

Message from Marc Nantel, vice president, Research & External Relations:

11 March 2021

Dear Colleagues,

Earlier in February, it was announced that the college was creating the Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden. I would like to express my gratitude to those who have donated to date, including our College leadership – our Board of Governors and Executive Team – and the many faculty and staff. It is only through the generosity of donors that we will reach our fundraising goal of $50,000 to help the Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden take root and grow.

Our faculty in the School of Environment and Horticulture is honoured to be leading the design of the Garden, while providing a meaningful, hands-on learning opportunity for our students.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to donate, please consider making your gift today.

Your donation is a truly inspirational way to pay tribute to Saundra’s life, her love of gardening and for Niagara College students, while creating a special place in the courtyard at our Daniel J. Patterson Campus.

Thank you for your support to help make this special tribute possible.

Take care,
Marc.

Saundra Patterson, who passed away in January, was at the heart of every major college event during Dan Patterson’s more than 25-year tenure as Niagara College president. As a supporter, ambassador and the true embodiment of our NC DNA, Saundra leaves a special legacy at NC, and will be truly missed by students, faculty and staff.

To honour Saundra’s memory, her love of gardening and fondness for NC’s School of Horticulture, the faculty and students in our School of Horticulture are designing and will be creating the Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden in the courtyard at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The garden will be personalized to include a variety of Saundra’s favourite plants and is expected to be completed this fall.

To make your gift to support the creation of the garden honouring and preserving Saundra’s legacy at NC, select Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden and Bursary under Areas of Support on page 2 of the online donation form. If you prefer a different method for donating, please contact Joanne in NC’s Development and Alumni Relations team at 905-328-5528.

With your support, the Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden will blossom into a beautiful place of reflection on campus for everyone to enjoy, while paying tribute to Saundra’s life and connection to NC.

Any funds remaining after completion of the garden will support the Saundra Patterson Horticultural Bursary for NC students.

NC graduates seeking confidence and clarity during difficult times won’t want to miss NC’s next Alumni webinar series featuring Paralympian, keynote speaker and mental resilience coach Kevin Rempel.

Rempel, who an NC alumnus (Business Administration – Marketing, 2005; and Event Management, 2009) will share three key ways to achieving high performance on a daily basis from The Resilience Toolbox – a framework to develop mental resilience.

The one-hour workshop, geared to all NC alumni, will be held via Zoom on February 3 from 11 a.m. to noon. The event will also involve NC Student Administrative Council president Tom Price who will introduce the guest speaker.

Late last year, Rempel also participated in an Ask an Alumni “episode” hosted by NC/NCSAC/Alumni Relations designed to connect current students with the expertise of College alumni.

“Kevin was a guest in our Ask an Alumni via live Instagram geared to students in December and his message/enthusiasm was so inspiring that we knew we had to have him back to tell us about The Resilience Toolbox,” said alumni engagement officer Jana Boniferro.

NC Alumni may register for the upcoming virtual event at niagaracollege.ca/ces/event/alumni-the-resilience-toolbox-02-03-2021/.

About the speaker

Kevin Rempel sports his bronze medal for sledge hockey from the 2014 Sochi Paralympics.

Kevin Rempel is a 2013 World Champion and 2014 Sochi Paralympic bronze medalist in sledge hockey who has an incredible story of overcoming a tremendous amount of adversity. He is a former freestyle motocross competitor, author, corporate motivational speaker, and Founder/CEO of The Sledge Hockey Experience.

Rempel reinvented himself as an entrepreneur after a motocross accident left him as an incomplete paraplegic in 2006 and has since devoted his career to making the world a better place for people with disabilities. Today, Kevin is focused on helping grow the sport of sledge hockey through The Sledge Hockey Experience, and passionately taking the stage, either live or virtually, inspiring audiences with The Hero Mindset Keynote and coaching leaders using The Resilience Toolbox.

Mental Health webinar Jan. 27 

NC alumni also had a chance to participate in mental health webinar hosted by Alumni Relations on January 27. Certified Canadian counsellor and parenting consultant Lynda Fernyhough spoke about how feelings of uncertainty are having an impact on lives, and provided coping mechanisms to help work through them.

NC Career Services is kicking off the Winter term with a suite of virtual programming and supports for students as they prepare for and adapt to the world of work.

The Career Services team, in collaboration with the Centre for Student Engagement and Leadership, Community Employment Services (CES) and NC Alumni Relations, will be hosting a variety of live and prerecorded online sessions to help students learn critical skills that relate to employability and find success as they embark on their career journeys.

The offerings are specifically designed to support students looking for employment upon graduation this Spring, or for those searching for full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions including co-op and work-integrated-learning experiences, which may be required as part of their academic requirements in the coming months. A session lead by staff from CES will also address job searching during the pandemic, with tips for how to look at opportunities and industries with a new lens.

Sessions begin the week of January 25 and continue through February with highlights including:

• January 28 – LinkedIn Session with career success specialist and NC alumna Madi Fuller, hosted by Alumni Relations (1-2 p.m.);
• Using InterviewStream and MyCareer tutorials;
• Essential Skills workshops;
• Alumni panel with a focus on accounting;
• Entrepreneurial Session hosted by Dean Spironello from the City of Niagara Falls;
• Taking your Headshot at Home;
• Go To College They Said podcast episode with a focus on career and mentoring;
• Resume Preparation: Connecting the Dots;
• Job Searching/Opportunities in Midst of Pandemic session hosted by CES; and
• Professionalism in the Workplace.

Students can view a full list of available sessions and learn how to access them via the MyCareer portal’s Career Events page. Students access MyCareer by logging onto their MyNC Portal, clicking on ‘More Applications,’ then ‘All,’ then scrolling down to select the MyCareer icon.

Virtual Career Fair 2021

Career Services has also partnered with CES on NC’s first-ever Virtual Career Fair on February 17 (9 a.m. to 4 pm.) to connect current students, alumni and community members with potential employers virtually.

Students can prepare for the event through an upcoming Virtual Career Fair prep session February 3 (9 to 10:30 a.m.) and by taking advantage of additional online resume and review sessions being offered January 25 through February 11 by appointment via MyCareer. NC’s Virtual Career Fair will also be the topic of an upcoming NCSAC Ask Me Anything Instagram live event on January 25 at 1 p.m. (a second session will be added – details to be confirmed).

Registration for students and other job seekers opens February 1. More information can be found at careerfair.niagaracollege.ca.

Career Services will also be offering additional programming for students through February and into March, which is National Co-op Month. Stay tuned for details.