Taking a Stand

A local family of successful entrepreneurs is supporting a cause suited perfectly to their community goals - and youth across Langley will be the better for it.

Through its subsidiary CCI Group Mental Health Society, the CCI Group, a Langley construction and drywalling firm, has donated $150,000 to help build and maintain mental health services for youth at Foundry Langley. 

"A tragedy within our own family forced us to recognize the hidden perils that can arise when people with mental health challenges are not helped," Garry Sangha, CEO of CCI Group, told the LMH Foundation. "As leaders, it is our responsibility to be vocal on this issue that often hits those that work with us in construction."

With a growing number of youth visiting Foundry Langley to meet their needs, whether they're looking for help in a job search, are facing conflicts at school or home, or need support for anxiety, mental and physical health, they need knowledgeable staff and counsellors to help them foster the confidence to make good decisions. 

When donors like CCI Group Mental Health Society help the organization through charitable gifts, every young visitor is that much closer to getting the answers they need, says Christine McCracken, Executive Director of Programs at Encompass Support Services Society which oversees Foundry Langley's services. 

"Our community like many others has struggled for years with waitlists for youth trying to access help, and it's imperative to try to fill this gap immediately."

According to the Canadian Association of Mental Health and Addictions, young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group, and by the time they reach 40 years of age, one out of every two Canadians have - or have had - a mental illness.

In October 2022, Foundry Langley welcomed 89 separate, or unique, young visitors. Those numbers grew every month up to March 2023, which saw 111 unique youth visitors. As more services were added, more young people showed up. 

By March 2023, Foundry Langley was receiving over 200 visits a month from young people. Most were youth aged 15 to 19, attracted to the centre for the access to drop-in counselling services, social groups and social support services it provides. 

Over the next year, Foundry is set to expand even more, as it builds capacity in its walk-in counselling program and continues to give youth access to confidential medical care. Family physicians started providing care out of the Foundry Langley centre in June 2023.

The CCI Group Mental Health Society gift brings the organizers closer to their goal.

"The ongoing support of donors for our programming allows us to impact youth more directly and immediately. When we see gaps and needs pop up throughout the year we can more nimbly spring into action," says Christine.

Thanks in large part to donors, social services and government partners, Foundry Langley is gradually becoming a model for other Foundry sites across Greater Vancouver, says Loren Roberts, Executive Director of Operations with Encompass Support Services Society.

"I firmly believe Foundry Langley is doing what it was meant to and that we are a leading Foundry throughout the [BC] network."