The Canadian Mental Health Association of Wood Buffalo is receiving help from the provincial government to help continue their ‘recovery college.’

This is a site where people in recovery can share skills, tools, and the knowledge they’ve needed to help improve their quality of life. This includes people suffering from an addiction to people dealing with a mental illness.

The province is allocating $3 million over three years to the three existing sites in Wood Buffalo, which has been open for six months, Calgary and Edmonton.

It will also help maintain the two sites which will be up and running in Lethbridge and Red Deer this September.

CMHA Senior Project Manager for Provincial Projects Lisa Munroe tells Mix News this is helping people get out of isolation.

“We’re not identifying people by labels or names of their diagnosis, we’re really dealing with you as who you were before you were given a label – it’s a very humanistic approach.”

According to data from the province, over 1,290 students have participated in a variety of Recovery College courses with roughly 81 per cent stating they’ve gained skills and information to support their personal wellness.

Executive Director of CMHA Wood Buffalo Christine Savage says this method is great for people who simply just need to talk.

“Some people just need to have a conversation, what we are is a compliment of that clinical support. Some people can come in and just have a conversation with a peer who’s experienced the same thing and get what they need out of that conversation.”

People interested in signing up for a program at Calgary, Edmonton, of Wood Buffalo’s ‘recovery college’ can visit recoverycollegecalgary.ca.