Sobeys partners with Kids Help Phone to support Black and Indigenous youth

Who: Sobeys Inc.

What: Sobeys is partnering with Kids Help Phone as part of the grocer’s Family of Support: Child and Youth Mental Health Initiative.

This new partnership will support two community-based mental health programs from Kids Help Phone — RiseUp and Finding Hope — to connect Black and Indigenous youth to virtual counselling and crisis help.

Each program provides around the clock support for vulnerable youth, with the support of volunteers, counsellors and community advisors from Black and Indigenous communities.

"We've partnered with Kids Help Phone for so many years and the way they stood up to support youth across Canada during the pandemic has been nothing short of amazing," said Michael Medline, president and CEO, Empire, in a press release.

"We have so much confidence in the integrated program that has been created in partnership with both Black and Indigenous community leaders and are proud to see this programming evolve to provide a focus on supporting early intervention for Black and Indigenous youth," he said.

Since launching in 2020, A Family of Support: Child & Youth Mental Health Initiative — a project created by The Sobey Foundation and 13 children’s hospital foundations — has raised more than $3 million for local mental health programs.