As Kailey Karim knows, every step can help a young person who needs help find their way. That is what makes the 10th anniversary of RBC Race for the Kids significant. Every year for the past ten years, thousands of race participants, including Kailey, have strolled, walked and ran to support Sunnybrook’s Family Navigation Project (FNP).
FNP is a free service that pairs youth aged 13 to 26 with mental health and/or addictions challenges to clinically trained navigators who connect them and/or their families to the services they urgently need.
“We’re running for all the youth we’ve helped. And we’re running for those who need help,” says Kailey, who was one of the first navigators hired at FNP when the program began and has been a keen participant in the race from the beginning.
Navigators are clinically trained mental health professionals who conduct a thorough assessment of concerns, client needs, and provide expert navigation of the health care and social service system to guide youth and their families to the specialized care that is right for them.
“I’m grateful when I think of the thousands of youth and families we’ve been able to help, who were lost without a path,” says Kailey. “They contacted us. We welcomed them. We had their back. And we stayed in the boat with them.”
The need is great. As many as 1.2 million Canadian youth are struggling with mental illness and 30 per cent of Ontario families are caring for at least one youth with mental illness and/or addiction. Statistics only tell part of the story. “If one person is not doing well, it has a trickle-down effect on the whole family,” says Kailey.
Over the COVID-19 pandemic, she adds, the need has intensified. More than twice as many youth are reaching out directly to FNP. They are dealing with anxiety, depression and addiction, and they and their families are worried about where to find help.
Since its launch in 2013, FNP has seen a 70 per cent growth in the number of youth who have reached out to FNP for help. FNP’s expansion has been made possible by private donors and the more than 60,000 people who have participated in the race, contributing more than $18-million since the first RBC Race for the Kids was held on the grounds of Sunnybrook.
When Kailey first started at FNP, she was one of only two part-time navigators. Now, there are 10 full-time navigators, an intake coordinator, a parent advocate with lived experience and three consulting psychiatrists.
Kailey has witnessed the success of FNP in many forms: from a youth accessing peer support or a live-in program, to a parent feeling less overwhelmed, or a family finding a service that is a good fit.
“Without the RBC Race for the Kids and the support of donors, we would not be able to provide this lifeline for youth and their families,” she says.
This year’s race takes place on September 17. Participants can join in person at Mel Lastman Square or virtually. To register click here.
