How building relationships is the first step to supporting recovery
The first step in connecting someone with recovery care can be as simple as a cup of coffee or a warm welcome.
“You don’t come in the front door and give out your story,” said Pattie Draude, a manager with Mental Health and Addictions Services in Melfort.
“It takes time.”
What began with offering healthy snacks in the facility’s waiting room became an opportunity to start conversations and build relationships.
Today, the initiative has evolved into a community-driven effort focused on creating connections. While it continues to provide practical support and essential items, its greatest impact may be the trust it builds and the pathways it creates to mental health and addictions services.
For staff, every interaction is an opportunity to build a relationship that could eventually lead to care.
“We offer them meals, we offer them choices, but then we always ask them if they are interested in services for the day,” said LeeAnn Fannon, Director of Primary Care for Northeast 7.
“Sometimes they are, sometimes they’re not. But it’s all about developing those relationships.”
The program is made possible through generous community support. Meals are donated by local grocery stores and restaurants or prepared by dedicated volunteers. Excess food from Saskatchewan Health Authority facilities is repurposed into freezer meals and added to the program’s inventory. To ensure food safety, all meals are prepared in licensed kitchens that have been inspected by Public Health.
The Food Sharing Program is a powerful example of patient- and family-centered care in action. By meeting people where they are and responding to their immediate needs, staff are fostering meaningful relationships and helping remove barriers to care. In doing so, they are bringing the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Patients First commitment to life by ensuring every interaction begins with compassion, dignity and a focus on what matters most to the people they serve.
