Carizon's Covid-19 Response

Updated Wednesday March 25, 2020

We are open and we are here for you!

COVID-19 is on everyone’s minds and hearts. This is a tremendously difficult time for many people in our community. You may be working on the front lines, or you may have been temporarily laid off due to business closures. You may have lost someone to this pandemic, or you may be worried about your own health or those of your loved ones. The COVID-19 situation is causing mixed feelings and heightened anxiety for many; this is understandable and completely normal. We are here for you.

As a non-profit agency in Waterloo Region, Carizon’s funded mental health and wellbeing services are available to support you and your family, at no cost to you. Because of the current environment, we have changed how you access us. Rather than dropping into one of our sites, please call us and someone will chat with you and determine how best we can help. This will keep everyone healthy and well during this period of physical distancing.

To arrange Children’s Mental Health Services through Front Door, please call (519) 749-2932 and press 1 when prompted. This will connect you to our intake line and we will arrange to get you the services you need.

To make a counselling appointment, please call (519) 743-6333 and press 1 when prompted. You will be directed to our intake staff who will book an appointment for you. If you call outside our regular hours or if we are on the phone, please leave us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Because community is important and we are all in this together, counselling services are offered to you at no cost for the next few weeks thanks to funding from the LHIN. If you are in crisis, please call Here 24/7 at 1 (844) 437-3247 or 9-1-1.

To connect with our Community Services team, please call your regular contact. They are available and will talk with you to determine how we can provide the right services to meet your current needs.

To get food at our Community Centres, please call us at the following times and numbers and we’ll book you an appointment:

• Erb West – Call (519) 497-8254 between 12:00 and 3:00 on Monday or Tuesday.
• Paulander – Call (519) 741-1152 between 12:00 and 3:00 on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

To find resources that might help you or your family during this challenging time please check out our website under Resources and/or follow us on Twitter at @carizon and Facebook at @CarizonUpdates. We will be posting materials to help you cope through this challenging time – articles like “Ways to talk with your child about COVID” and videos and resources to help with mental health challenges and anxiety. We will also post activities and resources you can use with your children. We will be updating our social media feeds and website with new resources regularly, so please do add us to your favourites list.

For updates on the recommended COVID-19 responses, you can find trusted sources of information including the Region of Waterloo Public Health and Ontario government websites. You may also want to check the tips posted on the Public Health Agency of Canada website that will help you and your family be prepared.

We are open and we are here for you. We are in this together!