We had a wonderful time talking to students on Wednesday, November 1st during the Annual Health Forum at the Hull Adult Education Centre (HAEC).

Every year, Connexions works closely with WQSB’s Hull Adult Education Centre (HAEC) to bring community organizations that work with youth and Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) specialists to the Centre in order to hold information workshops and set-up kiosks for students.  The purpose of the Forum is to let students know what health and social services are available in the Outaouais area and to give them an opportunity to connect with community organizations that offer services specifically to young people.

Connexions also had the opportunity to speak to students at our kiosk, answering some of their questions and sharing information on:

• Connexions Resource Centre: sharing information on available health and social services within the Outaouais including Info-Santé 8-1-1 (a free and confidential telephone consultation service), how to Register for a Family Doctor and the Health Passport.
• Careers available to them in the field of health and social services: sharing our print Career Tools and online Web resources.
• Éducaloi: steering students towards their online information on careers in law and their online Youth Zone.  We also had the opportunity to speak to some of the teachers and staff at the HAEC about some of the available teaching tools and resources provided by Éducaloi to help them talk about the law with students.

Students also attended 4 workshops given by:

• YouthNet/RéseauAdo: offered students information on maintaining good mental health with a focus on what to do to support a friend in need. Through interactive activities and games, the students learned how to develop positive coping strategies for dealing with stress and how to become comfortable and familiar with understanding why sometimes asking for help can be difficult (i.e., decrease stigma around Mental Illness and its treatment).
• WQSB and Portage: Students were able to hear the story of one young man, his experience with drugs and how Portage helped him to overcome his addictions through their drug addiction rehabilitation treatment centres.
• Centre de Justice de Proximité de l’Outaouais: provided an overview of the organization and a presentation on labour laws and rules for the workplace.
• World Financial Group: gave students information on the pitfalls of credit and how to start to save from a young age.

We would like to thank the organizations who came to provide information to students, including Le Bras, the Service de police de la Ville de Gatineau, Portage, the Western Quebec Career Centre and the Centre de Justice de Proximité de l’Outaouais.

We would like to thank the HAEC students for taking part in this full-day event, as well as the HAEC Principal, Scott Cavers, teachers and support staff for their help in organizing the Wellness Fair.  And of course a thank you goes out to the community organizations and WQSB specialists who came out to pass on information and answer student questions.  You have once again helped us make this Health and Wellness Fair a continuing success!