COVID-19:  Screening, updates and safety protocols: 

Grace's Inspirational Story

"Once I was referred to the Women’s Clinic at Ontario Shores, it was life-changing."
Grace's Inspirational Story
Published Date

As the CEO for Ontario Shores Foundation, it’s always an honour to meet someone who has been 
helped by our programs. When I met Grace for the first time, I was so moved by her courageous story. I just had to share it with you today in the hopes that it will inspire you to help more patients like Grace.

From a young age, Grace always felt like there was something wrong with her. She spent years struggling with her depression and anxiety in silence.

“To be honest it was really hard for me to open up about my health struggles,” explains Grace. 
“For years I was suffering in silence, to the point that I frequently thought about hurting myself and 
others. And being a mom, it was just really hard. I couldn’t take care of my children because I couldn’t take care of myself,” continues Grace, speaking candidly about her post-partum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD, which led to a severe mental breakdown while she was pregnant with her third child. 

“Once I was referred to the Women’s Clinic at Ontario Shores, it was life-changing,” says Grace. “I thank Ontario Shores so much for changing my life. And helping me to find a better version of 
myself.” 

Thankfully, Grace was able to access the help she needed when her life was in crisis. Yet in 
order to help more patients like Grace, we urgently need more funding.

You see, while Ontario Shores is a hospital and receives government funding, many of our programs, including the Women’s Clinic, are funded through donor support. What this means is that without the support of caring donors like you, the Women’s Clinic and other equally critical programs would be cancelled or never exist. That’s how vitally important your support is to the lives of our patients.

And it’s for this reason that I’m asking you to support with a donation today so that more
patients like Grace can access the life-changing care they need, when they need it most.

Your gift today will help fund revolutionary programs like the Women’s Clinic. This clinic provides short-term, focused consultations and treatment including psychiatric consultation, psychotherapy, and access to educational resources and medication for thousands of women like Grace every year.

Yet with the need for mental health care at an all-time high, the current wait time for treatment at our Women’s Clinic is approximately eight months. Which, as you can imagine after hearing Grace’s 
story, is intolerable for a new mom at home with a newborn, struggling with their mental health, 
who needs help now.

Ontario Shores has the programs to help. But we need funding from caring donors like you so that, when someone like Grace finds the courage to ask for help will be there to deliver treatment and care when they need it most.

“As a woman, as a mom, and as a nurse, I’m using my platform to help other women speak up. There is great strength from asking for help. Don’t be discouraged by the stigma. Be brave,” says Grace, 
who is doing better today thanks to the positive coping skills and care that she received at the Women’s Clinic at Ontario Shores.

Your generosity makes all the difference. Please donate now to fund revolutionary care to help even more patients like Grace, who can’t, and shouldn’t have to wait for the mental health services they 
so urgently need.

Thank you,

Tracy Clegg, CEO, Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health

No one should have to suffer in silence. Please donate today to help fund the Women's Clinic and other life-changing programs at Ontario Shores. Thank you! 


Grace's Poem of Thanks

 

 

Hear Grace in her own words. Read her poem of gratitude >>