Family Service Saskatoon’s 2-day Radiothon with Saskatoon Media Group’s radio stations CJWW, 92.9 The Bull and 98 Cool begins Thursday morning from the Mall at Lawson Heights. Executive Director of Family Service Saskatoon, Janine Baumann, describes the organization as a local non-profit that provides counselling supports and services for those impacted by mental health, family violence, and they also do a lot of work with youth.

To keep the costs from being prohibitive, the counselling fee is on a sliding scale. She says, “It starts at $25 up to $125, depending on your income. We try to make it affordable for individuals. And then our groups, some are offered at no cost, and subsidies are available if cost is a barrier. Baumann adds that with a lot of the insurance company plans, if you have one, the fee would be covered. Free Rapid Access Counselling is available across the province and Family Service Saskatoon is one of the providers, with appointments available in person, by phone, or ZOOM.

Going through some of the statistics, Baumann says over 3,700 people received support from Family Service Saskatoon in the last fiscal year, with almost 5,300 counselling hours provided and over a thousand hours of Rapid Access Counselling offered. FSS provided 177 hours of Intimate Partner Violence group programs, 812 individual counselling sessions for those dealing with Intimate Partner Violence, and 70 hours of group programming for men who have committed to ending the cycle of violence. In total, almost 3,800 people accessed services last year.