Student wellness space to open in Yamnuska Hall

By Nikayla Goddard, January 17 2017 —

The new year will bring many transformations to the University of Calgary, including the creation of a new student wellness space in Yamnuska Hall.

The space is part of the university’s Campus Mental Health Strategy, which launched in December 2015.

The space in Yamnuska Hall used to be occupied by West Campus Development. The building contains a handful of offices, a work area, a conference room and a  reception area. It will not need to undergo major renovations beyond refurnishing and decor.

Students’ Union vice-president student life Patrick Ma said that while most of the programming is still in the brainstorming stage, the space will offer different services from the SU Wellness Centre in MacHall.

“The Wellness Centre provides counselling services and wellness services. This area is more meant to be a student space for them to decompress, relax and connect,” Ma said.

The Wellness Centre will run the new space. According to Ma, the area will likely feature access to peer support and act as a space for community and university programming.

While residence students will likely benefit most from the new space due to its close proximity, it will be open to all U of C students.

There is currently no timeline or opening date for the new student wellness space. Ma said the SU hopes to get the space up and running sooner rather than later, possibly within the next month or two.

“It’s something to look out for,” he said. “The SU is in support of creating new space for students and we’re looking forward to seeing what becomes of it.”

Correction: A previous version of this article mentioned that the space would be located behind Yamnuska Hall. It will actually be in Yamnuska Hall. As well, the article previously described the space as offering SU programming. It will offer broad community and university programming. The Gauntlet apologizes to its readers for this error.