With hopes that the new wellness centre will bring Queen’s University students face to face with the resources they need, its new namesake has contributed $5 million to the building’s creation.
Husband Dennis Sharp and wife Helene Cote Sharp donated the funds from the Cote Sharp Family Foundation. They and their daughters, Genevieve and Catherine Sharp, were at the university on Thursday morning for the announcement.
“As one enters the Cote Sharp Wellness Centre, there’s every reason to expect a welcoming presence and, hopefully, once it’s up and running, an absence of bureaucratic barriers,” Dennis Sharp said after touring the site.
“We wish to encompass a support mentality, not one that creates barriers, intimidation or elevates frustration and anxiety.
“Bureaucracy can indeed be a daunting event for people at any age, but for young people it can be a total turn-off.”
The Wellness Centre is located on the footprint of the former physical education centre on Union Street, just west of Division Street.
A news release said that once completed in the fall, the centre will feature a specialized team of medical and counselling staff from doctors and nurses to social workers and psychologists, available to all students.
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Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses is managed and coordinated on behalf of the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information by CMHA BC
Core funding for the initiative is provided by BC Mental Health and Substance
Use Services with additional support from the BC Ministry of Health
