Christen Terakita is the Program Manager for Community Connect YYC, a collaborative of over 15 not-for-profit organizations and private practices working together to make mental health support more accessible for Calgarians. Born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Connect YYC was built on a simple but powerful belief: that no one should have to choose between their mental health and their budget, or spend weeks waiting for help that’s needed now.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Community Connect YYC is a collaborative of 15 not-for-profit organizations and private practices that offer affordable (free or sliding scale) and accessible (intakes or sessions available within one week) mental health supports for Calgarians. Using one website, Calgarians have over 40 services and programs at their fingertips and can pick the support that makes sense for them. They can personally book an appointment 24/7 using our shared booking platform.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Community Connect YYC (CCYYC) believes that mental health support should be available to everyone. Oftentimes, counselling requires lengthy wait times and can be too costly for many budgets. CCYYC aims to reduce barriers for those wanting mental health supports by offering them affordable services with no waitlists. CCYYC also ensures that clients don’t have to search multiple sites or call around to multiple places to find what they’re looking for. All of our services are available on one website and can be booked instantly on one booking platform, that is available 24/7 and not contingent on opening hours.
When did you start/join it?
CCYYC was started in 2020 with a small group of organizations.
What made you want to get involved?
CCYYC started during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it highlighted the need for mental health supports, especially during a global crisis, and supports that could be accessed virtually and timely for those who needed it.
What was the situation like when you started?
Initially, CCYYC started with a few organizations that were passionate about making the process of accessing support easier for Calgarians. The pandemic placed a larger demand on services to support mental health, loneliness, fear, and grief, but we saw a decrease in services that were able to support in-person. These agencies came together to find ways to collaborate to ensure that there were no barriers to Calgarians needing support, either financially or physically.
How has it changed since?
Now CCYYC has grown to over 15 inventory partners (those who offer counselling or other mental health supports) and over 40 services and programs. We also have over 30 external referral partners who are community partners that often refer their clients into CCYYC. We’ve been able to reduce the time clients wait for services to under a week and have been able to provide affordable mental health care to Calgarians needing it. These collaborations have also led to new funding partnerships and ways to leverage each other’s skills and offerings to better serve the community. As of December 2025, CCYYC offered 68,447 sessions to the community, with 18,381 people booking in through CCYYC since its inception. CCYYC also offers a diversity of supports spanning demographics such as newcomer/immigrants, family counselling, children and youth supports, addictions services, supports for 2SLGBTQIA+, counselling for people with disabilities, etc.
What more needs to be done?
CCYYC is always looking to partner with more agencies and practices to ensure all Calgarians can see themselves reflected in our supports. At current, we do not have a land-based or Indigenous-serving organization on board, and we would greatly value that additional support for our community. A continued goal is to find ways of promoting the collaboration so Calgarians know about us. In a recent study, it was found that most people first seek support with their mental health through their family doctor. CCYYC hopes to build relationships with healthcare professionals and clinics so they know where to refer their patients as they present in their spaces.
How can our readers help?
Spreading the word and letting people know there are affordable and accessible supports available through CCYYC.
We are always looking for funding and sponsors willing to support the ongoing work of this collaboration, and to support with the day-to-day operational costs of maintaining this platform.
We are also always looking for new referral partners and inventory partners to grow our community.
Where can we follow you?
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
Skipping Stone is an amazing agency that offers supports to transgender, Two Spirit and gender diverse folks in Calgary. They are one of a kind in Alberta, and the support they offer their clients is so valuable. The current political climate in Alberta has not been favourable to our trans and gender diverse citizens and they’ve done a wonderful job advocating and supporting the community through this. I can’t say enough good things abou them!
