Your #HeritageHealth Matters

January 28, 2021 is #BellLetsTalk Day started by Bell Canada in an effort to raise awareness and to combat stigma surrounding mental illness in Canada.

Building on ten years of increased awareness and acceptance around mental health, #BellLetsTalk focuses on engaging Canadians to take action to create positive change for mental health.

You can help raise awareness and funds towards mental health initiatives in Canada by participating in a few, or all, of the #BellLetsTalk initiatives:

Twitter: Each time you tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk or watch their official video, Bell will donate 5¢ more towards mental health initiatives.

Facebook: Each time you use the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or watch their official video, Bell will donate 5¢ more towards mental health initiatives.

Instagram: Each time you watch Bell’s official video on Instagram, Bell will donate 5¢ more towards mental health initiatives.

YouTube: Each time you watch Bell’s official video on YouTube, Bell will donate 5¢ more towards mental health initiatives.

Text messages: For every text message sent by a Bell wireless customer, Bell will donate 5¢ more towards mental health initiatives.

Calls: For every call made by Bell wireless and home phone customers, Bell will donate 5¢ more to mental health initiatives.

In recognition of #BellLetsTalk we wanted to remind you of some of the resources available from Heritage Mississauga which may help make being indoors a little more bearable.

We invite you to visit our YouTube channel for videos on the history and heritage of Mississauga or visit our website to read our many educational booklets, comics and walking tour brochures.

How Heritage Mississauga Staff Are Coping

Jayme Gaspar, Executive Director

The restrictions, isolation, and self-distancing we have faced over the past 10 months have impacted all of us and taken a toll on our mental well-being.
Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign brings to light the importance of staying connected with family and friends and finding new ways to share what we are dealing with. At Heritage Mississauga we are doing our part to support our community with a consistent lineup of interesting articles to read, videos to watch and interviews to link into.
We hope that the chance to learn something new about your community will help provide relief to the isolation at this time. I have found that in the “work from home model”, getting together on zoom meetings have focused solely on the work at hand. We have lost the moments to just talk with each other, share what is going on in our lives and to be emotionally engaged.
My colleagues in the community are now meeting for a zoom lunch meeting every month to reconnect and share on a personal level; it has raised my spirits and brought some sunshine to my days.
Take a moment to reach out and share some time together. We all need to do our part to stay connected and emotionally engaged during these very difficult times and know that we are not alone.
Meghan Mackintosh, Outreach Coodinator
This year the Bell Let’s Talk campaign is more important than ever. The Covid 19 lockdowns have meant that we are working from home with little interaction with people in person.
Thankfully I do video conferencing with Heritage Mississauga, working on my Commemorating Mississauga’s Cultural Heritage program, where I get to speak to people from diverse communities to hear about their stories.
This puts a smile on my face every single day. Every day I walk around my neighbourhood and I do a short workout at home to help keep me fit and increase my spirits. My thoughts are with those who are suffering during this time, as I too have felt the sadness and pain that comes with isolation. You are not alone.
Matthew Wilkinson, Historian
Bell Let’s Talk day highlights the need to stay connected even as we must remain apart, and to find support for our mental well-being during these extraordinary times.
Personally, amidst the daily pressures and challenges of life at home, balancing the care of young ones, online schooling, and work demands, there are precious moments also. Those moments help to bring balance.
I do worry about the long term effects of continued isolation, both in terms of education and social engagement for my children, but also the mental challenges of isolation and social distancing. But creating balance is the key, in my mind – balancing the pressures and enjoying pastimes, and spending time with each other, via virtual chats and phone calls, with family, friends and loved ones.
I have said numerous times during the pandemic, the individual days seem to go by slowly, but the weeks seem to speed by fast. My own focus on history, perhaps, encourages me. Like past pandemics, these days of Covid will pass, but I do hope that some of things that we miss most during isolation will become something we value even more: an appreciation for simple moments of togetherness, for connecting, for checking in on each other, finding common supports, and reaching out. #ApartTogether indeed!
Kelly Ralston, Social Media & Program Coordinator
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives, our well-being and our ability to provide the usual comforts and interactions with our friends, families and neighbours. Many people are facing personal challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and detrimental to their mental health.
Bell Let’s Talk provides an opportunity to stop and reflect not only on how we can help raise awareness and support for mental health initiatives, but reminds us to take a moment to make a phone call and check on those we care about and those who may feel isolated and alone.
It also reminds us to practice self-care and to check in on our own well-being.
We may not see a definitive end to the pandemic, and we will need to continue with responsible actions such as staying home and social distancing, but focusing on our own well-being and the well-being of those around us will make us more resilient as individuals and as a community.
For me personally, I enjoy being outdoors and find nature to be calming and grounding so when I take time for my daily walk to clear the stress, I make sure I take in the environment and occasionally stop to hug a tree. Our Heritage Mississauga Walking Tour brochures provide a great option for daily exercise to explore Mississauga’s heritage while practicing social distancing.
I am also proud of the programs and content that the Heritage Mississauga team has been able to produce during the COVID pandemic and it is our genuine hope that it has provided some resources for education and entertainment for our followers during these trying times.
We would love to continue the conversation, let us know how you are coping and share what helps you when you are feeling the impacts of COVID-19.
#ApartTogether we continue to research, record and celebrate the rich and diverse heritage of Mississauga.