NS news: YMCA conference wants to help people feel more connected

A national YMCA conference in Halifax will look at the loneliness epidemic and how people can feel more connected.

Peter Dinsdale, the president and CEO of YMCA Canada, said the conference consists of 400 people from across Canada and around the world. One of the topics on the agenda is how loneliness can be combated.

“To think about our strategy and how we move forward, and certainly a big part of that is how we serve our community, including loneliness,” Dinsdale said in an interview with CTV’s Crystal Garret on Tuesday.

President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth Brain Posavad said the YMCA has launched several programs focusing on youth resilience and mental health.

“Programs like our ‘Y Mind,’ or some of our traditional programs like our overnight camping, where they can disconnect from their social media for a week and experience people and nature again,” he said.

This kind of programming will hopefully help people’s health, Dinsdale said.

“You see people coming to the facilities and they’re doing their workouts, but I think the most important thing is they see their community. They talk to each other and they feel connected and meet people they wouldn’t otherwise meet in their daily lives.” life,” he said.

“Everything we do is trying to bring people together, that’s our fundamental piece,” Posavad said. “It’s family, it’s bringing others in and how they support each other.”

Dinsdale said the YMCA will not turn anyone away, adding that the most important thing is for people to stop by one of their facilities and see what they have to offer.

“We do a lot of different work in a lot of different ways, so reach out to us and if we don’t know, we can put you in touch,” Posavad added.

Visit our special provincial page for more Nova Scotia news.