WaterStone Foundation and TMU want students experiencing an eating disorder to know they don’t have to face it alone.
Partnering with the Student Integrated Health and Wellbeing team at TMU, WaterStone has granted $100,000 to help support the hiring of a counsellor for the campus Centre for Student Development and Counselling (CSDC).
Eating disorders are significant physical and mental health conditions affecting a wide range of people across all genders and ethnicities.
‘Health at every size’
Registered social worker Colleen Conroy Amato, who specializes in eating disorders, was brought on to the CSDC team in a pilot initiative supported by WaterStone in August 2022.
The success of the pilot program, and the clear and growing need for eating disorder support among students, prompted WaterStone to renew its funding in May 2023.
“Health at every size,” says Amato, “is what I endorse, and I want students to never feel alone.”
WaterStone wants to ensure that eating disorders don’t stop students from being successful at school.
“Across all age groups, there is an incredible gap in services,” said Sandra Palmaro, senior advisor at WaterStone Foundation. “Private therapy is inaccessible for a lot of people, especially students. We saw an opportunity to partner to help provide access to treatment and support.”
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