The Weyburn branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association has been quite busy ever since the provincial government removed all of the restrictions on gathering sizes and masks.

Now that they can hold events in person again they are moving forward full steam with their programs and services that they offer to those who need them.

"One of the programs that we offer is our Vocational Work program that provides people with some structure in their day as well as a teamwork environment where they are all working there together," shared Tasha Collins, Program Director for CMHA Weyburn. "In the wintertime, we do snow removal, in the spring and in the fall we do yard cleanups where we offer raking and bagging services for people, and in the summertime, we do a lot of lawn mowing. We also provide landfill services where we go and pick up items for people and then drop them off at the landfill."

She added that the program sometimes involves helping people to move large items like beds and televisions to their new home or to be delivered to SARCAN for recycling purposes.

Earlier this week CMHA received a donation of a brand new lawnmower for their Vocational Work program from Schmeltzy's Rentals Fisk Repair in Weyburn as one of their regular mowers broke down and they had brought it in to be fixed.

They also have Vocational One-On-One programming where CMHA staff work with individuals to complete projects, training, and various other desired skill-based enhancements that can help the participants to be more successful in their lives and thrive within the community.

"We also have our Vocational Meal program where people can help our staff to make and provide meals every day to anyone that is attending our programming," Collins told. "Then we have our Social Recreation programming and that's usually in house but we do some things out in the community. That could be card games, bocce ball, or even a trip to Nickle Lake."

She added that they have an art program that happens every Wednesday and a writers group that meets every Monday.

All of their programs are open to anyone in the community that might be struggling with their mental health or living with some sort of an illness that affects the quality of their life.

You can listen to Collins explaining some of the other services that CMHA Weyburn provides in the audio file below.

Right now they are selling their Cash Calendars for $40 each and all of the funds raised will go back into their local programming for the community.

After holding their annual general meeting earlier this week they saw their past president Kimberly Bitz step down and member at large Ryan Frost also stepped away from the board.

Their new president is Mal Barber for the 2021-2022 year.

You can learn more about CMHA Weyburn by following them on Facebook and by visiting their official website.