Canada is a country that cares about its people, and anyone who enters into their space is treated the same. This country is ranked as one of the most hospitable and friendly countries in the world due to their good nature. They pride themselves in lending a hand whenever they can. This is done through individuals who invest a lot of their own time and money to help out. Another form is through the multiple organizations that are involved in helping out the community. These organizations are always actively looking for volunteers who are keen to join their cause in helping out the community in so many different aspects. There are a lot of these organizations, and to mention all of them will probably fill up a book. A few prominent ones are going to be listed below.

Mental Health

Mental Health is something that a lot of people do not want to talk about. Most people are afraid of opening up about this issue because they fear the stigma associated with it. When they finally get the courage to speak up about their problems, they are sometimes told by friends and family to “man up” and move on as it is not a “serious” issue. Such comments result in people suffering in silence about their mental health. This is one of the many reasons suicide rates are high because people bottle up so much hurt until it gets too much for them to handle it on their own. There are so many mental health organizations in Canada that have come to the realization that one person can never do it alone. Only with a good support structure can patients suffering from mental health begin to venture down the road to recovery.

• Access Pro Bono Society of BC (APB)

Mental health can sometimes cloud people’s judgement and cause them to do or act in a certain way that they would otherwise not have done had they been well. It is therefore not fair to treat a person suffering from such a condition the safe as someone who fully understood the consequences of their actions. People suffering from mental illnesses are, therefore afforded the opportunity to prove that they are mentally ill in a court of law when being tried for a matter. Once it is determined that an alleged offender does actually have a mental illness, they are then transferred to facilities that help them get the help they need. The length of that stay there depends on the extent of the illness.

As we all know, legal costs are not cheap, and they tend to put a huge hole in the pockets of those seeking justice but cannot afford it. The Access Pro Bono Society (APB) is a society of lawyers that offer their services on a pro bono basis to clients suffering from mental health. In order for this organization to help out, the person must be financially needy. They run over 100 free legal clinics in various communities, and these clinics are aimed at helping as many people as possible.

Homeless

Being homeless is something that none of us ever want to happen. Due to life’s problems which come in many forms, people find themselves on the street. Being homeless does something to a person’s brain and destroys their will to go on. This is why so many organizations have come up with soup kitchens, halfway homes and shelters to allow homeless people to temporarily get a roof over their head as they try to sort out their lives. These shelters provide a safe place to stay for a short period as well as a long period of up to one year. In this period, residents are required to earn their keep by doing various chores and are able to put their gifts to good use. These exercises are aimed at integrating people back into the community as well as to develop their skills that they either were not fully harnessing or did not know existed. A Place Called Home is such an organization that offers such assistance. They provide help in a manner that allows people to fill welcome. Luckily, satellite imagery can be used to identify larger areas in which a lot of homeless people reside. This can prove crucial in getting the aid to the correct areas, but unfortunately, the technology is not advanced enough yet to identify smaller clusters of people living in the streets.