By Elly Litvak, Family Worker, Family Outreach and Response Program – CMHA Toronto

In November 2024, CMHA Toronto launched the pilot of Family Intervention Therapy (FIT) — a structured, psycho-educational method for supporting families navigating serious mental health challenges. At the time, Dimple Mehta, CMHA Toronto’s Manager, Family Outreach & Response and Healthy Families, and Antonio (Tony) Gordinho, Clinical Lead, Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Program, were learning more about the approach by trying it out with two families and were hopeful it would have wide applicability for CMHA Toronto clients.

At 140 Adanac Drive and 10 Glen Everest Road, the sounds of everyday life are often punctuated by sirens. Police cruisers, ambulances, and fire trucks are a familiar presence — part of the background of daily living for hundreds of people trying to maintain stability in difficult circumstances.  These buildings are classified as Level 3, or “complex needs,” housing — places where overlapping mental health, addictions, physical

Every Tuesday afternoon at 10 Glen Everest Road, the recreation room becomes something more than a shared space. Tables are set out. Art supplies appear. Sometimes there is bingo, sometimes chair yoga. What matters most, though, is not the activity itself — it is the consistency.  In a “complex needs” building, where untreated mental health and addictions issues, trauma, and social instability

The holidays can be hard for those who are grieving. The often unrealistic expectations placed on us for our time and emotional energy, financial pressures, and the need to navigate what might be challenging family dynamics all collide at this time of year.

When Mark Dwyer found himself standing outside a client’s home throwing dog food through a partly opened door, he knew a long-simmering problem needed a better solution. As Program Manager, Housing First and Strengthening Communities in Scarborough (SCS), he and his staff had been concerned for years about what happens to pets if their clients end up in the hospital, incarcerated, or otherwise unable to take care of them.

Laurie Hall recently signed up for CMHA Toronto’s Pet Care Crisis Plan and shares her story with us.

We caught up with Christina Gallo, RP, a mental health therapist with CMHA Toronto and the facilitator of the agency’s Grief Support Program.

Settlement workers are essential to Canada’s immigration system — and immigrants are essential to Canada’s growth and vitality. But a new CMHA Toronto study shows the sector’s workers are burning out under unsustainable pressures. It’s not just a workforce challenge — it’s a warning sign for Canada’s settlement system overall.