February 2026
I joined CAI in January 2024. It was such a terrific opportunity to look at the work of the Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) sector from a new vantage point. I had a sense of how things were landing on the ground and I wanted to learn more about how my experience as a local Executive Director compared to what was happening in other communities. I also took CAI’s mandate of building the capacity of the MHSU sector to heart and wondered if we were achieving the kind of integration that was dreamed of when CAI was initially launched.
With the support of Catharine Hume (former co-Ed of RainCity Housing), CAI conducted a series of interviews with key stakeholders in the MHSU sector around their needs and interest in collaborating more effectively. Through the interviews, we learned that stakeholders had a desire to come together to rebuild relationships and develop collective impact frameworks. They also indicated support for CAI’s role in acting as a convenor.
As a result, CAI invited a diverse group of leaders from the MHSU sector to come together to address the challenges and needs brought up in the interviews. These included:
- Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA)
- BC Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA)
- Canadian Mental Health Association BC
- Canadian Mental Health Association Kamloops
- Coast Mental Health
- Dr. Peter Centre
- Health Justice
- Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society
- Phoenix Drug & Alcohol Recovery & Education Society
- RainCity Housing and Support Society
We focused on equipping non-profit leaders with skills to engage effectively with municipal elected officials and staff to support continued collaboration with other non-profits in their region. The proposed approach was a series of four full-day government relations training sessions in 2026, with key leaders of organizations in the MHSU sector who were identified as essential voices in shaping the future of community-based advocacy. They would be facilitated by Councillor Nadine Nakagawa from Ablaze Consulting, who has experience both on the front lines of a non-profit and as an elected official.
To do this effectively, we needed to develop some shared key messaging to provide a framework for engagement with municipal elected officials and the public. These key messages were refined with feedback from people with lived and living experience of substance use and mental illness. We also invited a group of leaders connected to the BC Association of Recovery and Addictions providers (BCARA) to provide their input.
From January to April 2026, we anticipate training over 75 non-profit leaders from across BC and across the MHSU sector. After the first two sessions, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The primary outcome we will measure is how many took action, post-training, to engage more purposefully with elected officials, either before or after the fall municipal election.
I came away from the first two sessions with many valuable insights. Most importantly, these sessions reinforced for me just how often non-profit leaders feel very alone in their work, a reality I have experienced myself. They are often caught in a bind between wanting to advocate for change and being dependent on the systems that support their current clients.
The training allowed leaders to build new relationships with their colleagues and debrief their complex political environments. Leaders also shared their stories of success when it comes to building relationships with local elected officials, as well as their desire to work with them as partners and allies. For some, this may mean a more formal delegation to council, but for others, especially those who work in more rural communities, this might mean finding a different approach next time they see their mayor at the grocery store.
The sessions have given me hope and helped me deepen my relationships, even in this time of contraction. I want to express my appreciation to the sector leaders who work alongside CAI, as well as to elected leaders like Councillor Nadine Nakagawa, whose training reminds us that we are all human, and building trusting relationships take time. It’s often a matter of picking up the phone and inviting an elected official to tour your facility or meet for coffee.
As we emphasize in our key messages, often, what feel like separate problems are connected symptoms of the same crisis, and none of us can solve them alone. When we coordinate our efforts and act together—governments, health authorities, non-profits, businesses, and neighbours—we build safer, more dignified communities where everyone belongs.
—Julia Kaisla, Executive Director, CAI