Farmer mental-health program gets charitable status
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2024 (556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A provincial farmer mental-health program that provides counselling services and mental health supports to the local community has been granted charity status, making it easier for the organisation to receive donations and expand service delivery across Manitoba.
Gerry Friesen of the The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program told the Sun on Wednesday that the new status will enable the organization, which he co-founded, to improve funding for, and expand counselling services offered by the program.
The Program was designated a charity for tax purposes by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in October, Friesen said.
A farmer cultivates his field outside of Souris earlier this year, while a stubble fire burns in the background. A wellness program for farmers has earned charitable status, making it easier for it to receive donations and expand counselling services and supports for farmers across Manitoba. (Connor McDowell/Brandon Sun)
Citing an increase in occupational stressors experienced by many in the farming community, and the corresponding need to ramp up counselling services, helped the organization make its case before the CRA. The new status will also make it easier for the program to receive donations, Friesen added.
Individuals will now receive a tax receipt for making donations, and other charities will also be able to support the program with additional funding, allowing an expansion of its resource base.
“Achieving charitable status is an exciting step forward,” said Marcel Hacault, chair of the program in a release on Wednesday. “It not only strengthens our accountability, but also expands our ability to raise funds and better serve Manitoba’s farming community.”
The Wellness Program provides free counselling sessions to farmers across Manitoba, through counsellors who have a background in agriculture. It currently offers up to nine sessions per person, with a counsellor available in Steinbach, Strathclair, Brandon and Winkler. Individuals can access counselling services online, on the telephone, and in-person.
The recent announcement from the program comes at a time when service uptake has been rapidly increasing, said Friesen, noting that the number of people receiving counselling had doubled for the second consecutive year in 2024.
However, Friesen did not disclose how many people had received counselling so far.
Commenting on the need for specific agriculture-related counselling, Friesen said there are reasons that farmers need qualified counsellors with a relevant background in agriculture. Farmers face “unique stressors” in their work, he explained, and need someone who can relate to, and understand those issues.
Some of these stressors include unforeseen extreme weather events, such as storms, early frost, as well as the impacts of financial volatility on agricultural trade and prices. These are some of the core issues that farmers expect their counsellors to understand, Friesen said. He cited the example of a farmer walking away from a counselling session on account of the counsellor being unable to understand the specific occupational stressors the farmer had been experiencing.
The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program site states that 58 per cent of farmers meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder, 35 per cent meet the criteria for a depression diagnosis, and 40 per cent are reluctant to get help due to stigma associated with getting the necessary support.
According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, mental health issues experienced by farmers can stem from isolation, a blurred distinction between work and home life, and barriers to mental health services.
The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program received $160,000 in funding from the federal government last year, as part of a new initiative announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, at the National Symposium on Agricultural Mental Health.
“Farmers have a very demanding job and deal with a lot of stress,” Bibeau stated in a press release at the time. “Mental health issues are so often taboo in the sector, which is why initiatives like the ones created by the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing are so essential to open the dialogue and, ultimately, save lives.”
Friesen hopes that the change in status will encourage more people to make use of the services provided under the program.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com, with files from Geena Mortfield