The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on front line workers responding to the crisis in our community. Many agencies across the region have been responding to this crisis by supporting the community in which they serve. Front line workers at these agencies are facing increased levels of stress and burn out due to the complex nature of the crisis.
To help address this concern, Sanguen Health Centre in collaboration with the Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy and the Inner City Health Alliance organized a series of Compassion Fatigue and Collective Care Workshops for front line staff at many of the impacted agencies during the month of May. With feedback from participants and the lower capacity of online workshops, the organizers decided to offer three more workshops in June and possibly into July.
The workshops will provide front line workers with a safe and supportive space to learn about compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout debriefing process, and collective care during an unprecedented time. Workshop facilitators Pete McKechnie (Social Support Coordinator, Sanguen Health Centre) and Alice Maguire (Clinical Supervisor, Sanguen Health Centre CTS Division) both have many years of experience working on the front lines with individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use, and other marginalized communities.
The first workshop will be offered on June 18th at 1:30pm-4:30. The next two are to be determined. Each will be three hours in length. The workshops are free of charge and due to the importance of social distancing, the workshops will be offered online via Zoom. Our hope is that these workshops will help support the self-care of front line workers who are dealing with stress and burn out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please note that each workshop will have a cap of 8 participants due to the nature of the workshops being hosted via Zoom. Each workshop will be filled on a first come first serve basis and please remember that these workshops are prioritized for folks who are doing front line work.
If you have questions about the workshops please contact:
Joanna Han– jhan@kdchc.org
Pete McKechnie – pmckechnie@sanguen.com
Alice Maguire – amaguire@sanguen.com
The Eventbrite Link
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/workshop-compassion-fatigue-and-collective-care-for-front-line-workers-registration-102987765178
If you are a manager please fill out this survey to help improve the workshops and plan for a series of manager workshops in the future.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/225D8XH
To sign up for a workshop click here:

Workshop: Compassion Fatigue and Collective Care for Front Line Workers Compassion Fatigue and Collective Care for Front Line Workers
www.eventbrite.ca