Cliff Ballantyne: one of CAMH’s 150 Leading Canadians for Mental Health
CAMH names Clifford Ballantyne one of 150 Leading Canadians for Mental Health!
CAMH Difference Makers is a national initiative to nominate and celebrate 150 Canadians making a difference in mental health. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) National Committee of leading experts and advocates selected Cliff from more than 3,700 nominees. Congratulations Cliff!
If you know Cliff, then you know that Cliff speaks from the heart and integrates Indigenous culture with his own lived experience. As a youth worker at ACCESS Open Minds Sturgeon Lake First Nation (Saskatchewan) and as co-lead of ACCESS Open Minds National Youth Council, Cliff puts his values to work. “By youth for youth” guide his priorities and his daily commitment to work with and for young people. He strives to create a space for young people to speak their mind on issues that matter to them, in a way that young people understand: from logos to youth spaces and everything in between!
Locally, Cliff has met with policy makers, schools and numerous youth organizations to promote youth engagement. He was instrumental in empowering youth from the Sturgeon Lake First Nation community to plan, build and decorate their youth center – by youth, for youth – with the support of his local community and ACCESS Open Minds. This youth center promotes wellness and culture with access to youth mental health services. The centre officially opened on May 26th.
Cliff is impacting the lives of people with lived experience by encouraging young people to get involved in discussions about youth mental health in their local community.