Contest win good for mental health

A project for mental health has been launched to bring counsellors to four rural Westman communities in an effort to provide services that people might not otherwise have access to.

The project, called the Rural Counselling Program, opened offices this year in Carberry, Souris, Glenboro and Hartney. The project was organized by Cathy Williams, Dave Williams and Dennis Lonsdale with a goal to bring mental health services to rural areas.

“I’m just hoping we can help people who felt there was no other option, didn’t have insurance, couldn’t afford it, whatever,” said Cathy, whose son passed away from suicide. “Just try to help people get through life.”

Cathy and her husband Dave are co-founders of Westman Mental Wellness and Suicide Prevention. They have worked to add services to Westman since 2014, and the latest addition is the Rural Counselling Program in 2025.

The mental health project received $30,000 in funding that the team won through the Winfield United Raise the Barn competition. The Rural Counselling Program received the most votes in the competition of all the ideas entered across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The competition was hosted by Winfield United. The company tasked agricultural retailers to partner with charities to produce a beneficial community project.

As a result of the Rural Counselling Program’s win, the prize money will now pay for free counselling sessions in the rural areas of Westman.

“It’s hard to describe in words how excited we are about it,” Cathy said. “It has been a long journey. And sometimes you feel like you’re not really making a difference or getting ahead, but this is going to be very impactful for the communities.”

Now that the program is in place, each rural community will have one day a month where residents can book free counselling sessions. The program eliminates the cost barrier, while also allowing residents to travel a bit further to the other communities if they want to attend a second, third or fourth day of counselling.

Lonsdale said the goal is to cover a gap and meet people close to home.

“We’re bringing it to the rural area because not a lot of people have all the services,” he said. “(Some also may not have) the strength to get to the city where the counsellors are.”

Lonsdale is the manager of Souris’ Redfern Farm Services. He partnered with the Williams to win the fundraiser competition, as they put together a plan for the rural counselling program.

Lonsdale said he hopes the program will connect with people and offer support. He said it is vital as wait times to see a professional can stretch months in small communities, and he added mental health is cropping up as a common issue for people today.

He cited a statistic from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that said in any given year, one in five Canadians experience a mental illness.

When it comes to having a run-in with mental health, he said the perception is wrong. He said, “It’s not a sign of being weak, it’s a sign of being strong too long.”

Williams said the office space for the counsellors to meet with people in the four rural communities has been donated by people in the communities. Cathy and Dave reached out to the rural municipalities and towns and requested space, and organized to make that space available for counsellors one day a month.

With $30,000 in funding going solely towards counsellors, it’s a great start, but the group is aware they will have to fundraise more to keep the project going.

“We usually have a walk at a golf tournament every year, but I think probably we would have to come up with some different fundraising ideas to make sure that we have enough to carry on. So it’s still going to be some work down the road to keep things going, that’s for sure.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com