Enlight Foundation is proudly collaborating with Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School and Richmond Foundation to offer free psychological support to relieve youths who may be experiencing mental health related matters through the facility of a drop-in clinic where no referral or appointment are necessary. The clinic opened its doors on the 6th of November, 2019 and will be open from 8:15 till 12:15 every Wednesday and Thursday at Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School, in the Counselling Room of the New Block. When a question or an issue comes up, the student is free to go to the clinic and receive the information, guidance and / or support necessary to tackle it. This pilot project is funded through the Malta Social Impact Awards organised by Gasan Foundation and Inspirasia Foundation.
Enlight Foundation aims to empower youths to seek help as early as possible. According to The World Health Organisation, half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age but most cases go undetected and untreated. It is in this stage in the adolescents' development that Enlight Foundation seeks to provide the support necessary. The foundation believes that the prevention and early detection of mental health problems are the stepping stones towards healthier, more resilient, and higher functioning youths. Timely intervention would enable these youths to go on to become individuals who are productive and contribute to society rather than depend on it. This clinic eradicates practical problems that adolescents face when seeking mental health support, such as not being able to afford to pay for a psychologist, being too embarrassed because of the stigma, being daunted by the long waiting lists, being unable to physically be present because of transport constraints, the list goes on. "Rather than sending the adolescents to go seek help, we aim to bring the help to them," says Leann Gauci Abela, Enlight Foundation's Chair Person.
This project also aims to transform the stigma and negative attitudes associated with mental health and to promote mental health well-being by making psychological services more accessible to youths in a unique and tailor-made way and provide relevant information to increase knowledge.
Enlight Foundation is excited to be working hand-in-hand with Richmond, for better mental health, within GCHSS, whose philosophy is to empower students and whose goal is emphasise healthier living in youths. Working with these two prominent entities will create a dynamic collaboration which we hope will set things in motion so that our youths have more accessibility to services to help maintain their mental health and tackle any problems with minimal delay.
More information on Enlight Foundation can be found at https://www.facebook.com/enlightfoundationmalta/ and MSIA www.siamalta.org