Bell Let’s Talk Day 2021: How to find mental health support at Humber College 

By Bridget Yard on
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A blue hat with the BellLetsTalk logo is perched on the side of laptop keyboard. The screen shows Humber's homepage.

At Humber College, Bell Let’s Talk Day is an opportunity for people to take stock of their mental health and the mental well-being of those around them. It is important every year, but the changes and disruptions of the past year and the effort to respond to an ever-growing list of needs has most people feeling run-down at best. 

Dean of Students Ian Crookshank is photographed smiling in a hallway lined with windows in the Learning Resource Commons.“COVID-19 has served to exacerbate and further fuel issues that challenge people’s ability to be well,” said Dean of Students Ian Crookshank. 

COVID-19 has threatened financial, food and housing security, access to spaces to support physical health and fitness, close connection to friends and family and the simple ability to feel safe and well. 

“It is important to acknowledge that these challenges are not felt equally across populations and that people from equity-seeking groups have by-and-large faced a different or second pandemic connected to the disproportionate impact on those communities,” said Crookshank. 

Humber students can access the BASE (Black Academic Success and Engagement), the LGBTQ+ Resource Centre and Indigenous Education & Engagement to find community, connection to resources, and supports based on their diverse lived experiences. 

Humber Athletics has launched initiatives of its own leading up to January 28th, including a virtual photo booth, yoga for anxiety on Zoom and mental health trivia night. Athletics also hosted Donovan McKenzie who speaks about his experience with depression and PTSD and ending the stigma around men's mental health.Two rows of student athletes sit on Humber College bleachers holding signs with comments on the importance of mental health

In addition to workshops and online presentations for Bell Let’s Talk Day, Humber offers year-round mental health support for students.  

Any college or university student in Ontario can contact Good2Talk, a free service to support mental health at 1-886-925-5454. Humber students can also access Therapy Assist Online, which provides students with self-service options and information on keeping healthy and well at taoconnect.org  

The First Year Experience (FYE) program helps new students build connections with upper-year students and provides participants with extra support and advice when accessing services. 

Most Humber services now offer remote or virtual options for students. Visit wegotyou.humber.ca for a full list of available services.