The roots of The Wellness Navigation Project can be traced back to the fall of 2022, as Marc Roskamp prepared to take over the helm at the St. Thomas Police Service.
At the time, Roskamp was a 25-year veteran of the St. Thomas Police Service with 16 years in uniform patrol before moving up to the Criminal Investigation Branch and then being appointed Deputy Chief in 2018.
In an interview with the incoming chief, he shone a light on a critical focal point as he prepared to assume the duties of the outgoing chief, Chris Herridge.
“From a public safety perspective, I believe so strongly in the health of the community and its citizens. And one of my main priorities will also be to build up the resiliency of our members of the police family.

“I’ve said this before, if we’re healthy on the inside, we will be healthy on the outside to deliver services to the community.
“In recent years, there has been a shift in police culture, and some of that is the direct result of the dynamic nature of policing, the pandemic and the widespread social challenges that we have been facing.
“And this has changed the collective heart of policing in many ways and the wellness of officers.”
Three years later, that emphasis on the well-being of both sworn and civilian members of the St. Thomas Police Service was recognized when what evolved into The Wellness Navigation Project under the leadership of St. Thomas native Dr. Kym Briggs and Chief Roskamp (pictured below) was honoured by Blue Line Magazine as one of the Top 10 policing feature stories of 2025.
Blue Line is Canada’s national law enforcement magazine.

Brittani Schroeder, the editor of Blue Line Magazine, wrote the article.
It showcased The Wellness Navigation Project as “A mission to normalize mental health in law enforcement.”
Last month, we sat down with Briggs, who spent 15 years with the Canadian Mental Health Association and is searching for holistic approaches to address mental health challenges.
She observed, “Millions of dollars have been dedicated to mental health across the province and country. And unfortunately, first responders are struggling at a rate greater than the general public.
“A recent research project put out by the RCMP found that approximately 50 per cent of Canadian police officers are working with a diagnosable mental illness. That’s double the rate of the general public.
“So what that tells us is that all of these recent interventions in mental health and first responder work aren’t working as we’d hoped. And so we need to come up with some different solutions.

“We’re trying to teach the people of the organization, the leaders of the organization, to recognize mental health symptomology early, but also make the avenues to support more accessible.”

“And that’s the purpose of this project. It’s an entirely different way of looking at the problem. And we’re introducing a new way of seeing mental health. And it’s been years in the making. And we’ve been working at this for a few years now. And we’re definitely seeing the impacts in the community.”
Briggs serves as the Director of Mental Health Strategy & Innovation at CallBox & Co., with the aim of “Ensuring that today’s first responders stay connected to the lifelines that protect their mental health and overall well-being.”
She talked about the culture of first responders.
“It’s important that first responders hold it together in the moment of a call, that the public needs them to kind of be firm and there for people who need them, and so the problem is when they leave those calls, they often hold it in.
“What we’re trying to get the organization more comfortable with is responding to mental health when you’re reacting, rather than being injured or ill, and so we’re trying to teach the people of the organization, the leaders of the organization, to recognize mental health symptomology early, but also make the avenues to support more accessible.”
Briggs continued, “There are major impacts between home and work for first responders, more so than in many other professions. And the reality is that our police officers, our communicators in St. Thomas, are working 12-hour shifts, 10-hour shifts, seeing incredibly difficult things, hard things, trauma, human suffering and pain, and then going home and helping their kids with homework and volunteer coaching and trying to show up for their families.
“And one thing my research has told me is that families are struggling. It’s another area that we haven’t connected with, where there are lots of family members who could be better able to support their first responder loved one if they had better tools and strategies.
“And that’s one thing that’s coming in St. Thomas is we’re offering workshops to all the family members for first responders with the St. Thomas Police Service, so that they can better support their loved one when they run into trouble.”
Briggs has extensive personal connections to emergency services.
“Between my spouse, my stepdad, my father-in-law and brothers-in-law, they have 135 years of emergency service work, just between the five of them.
“And over the years, I noticed concerns and worries. And through my work and my personal life, I just noticed that mental health wasn’t being taken care of in the way that I thought maybe it could be.
“And so I went back to school and worked on a doctoral degree. And the topic was really, really easy. Police mental health. And thankfully, the St. Thomas Police Service allowed me to partner with them.”
She continued, “We’re trying to get away from ticky box sort of solutions. In the past, many mental health responses have been given in a sort of ad hoc kind of way, just services thrown at the employees.
“We’re trying to build a strategic plan here. And so we spent quite a bit of time talking to the frontline people, the people who would be most affected by the changes that we make.

“I spent many, many hours, weeks, months, interviewing, surveying, talking to people. And so they really connected to the project, and all of the information and the ideas came from them.”

“We’ve conducted surveys and interviews, focus groups. We’ve run educational workshops to collect a lot of really good information so that the changes that we make are rooted in the experience of the people who work there.
“And they’re the things that are most important to them. And with that information, we’ve put together a multi-year strategy to hopefully continue having this great impact.”
Briggs stresses that the success of the Wellness Navigation Project is driven by the members of the St. Thomas Police Service.
“Which is different than most other work that’s been done in the past in other services. I’m a registered social worker, and prior to this life, I was a frontline social worker here in St. Thomas, working in courts for the CMHA.
“And I really believe in working on this hierarchy a little bit in emergency services and really valuing the voice of lived experience and the voice of the people who will be most impacted.
“And so those are the frontline people. And so I spent many, many hours, weeks, months, interviewing, surveying, talking to people. And so they really connected to the project, and all of the information and the ideas came from them.
“And then I take that information and go out and look at the research, see what the research tells me, and then build a plan that’s rooted in their ideas, their experience, but also rooted in best practice and research evidence-based approaches.”

“And so I connected with counsellors who were already trusted. And we worked to bring them right into the building just to make access easier, and then to normalize that experience of going to counselling and having appointments routinely.”

Briggs circled back to Chief Roskamps’s concern for the mental well-being of every member of the St. Thomas Police Service.
“That’s absolutely been his focus from the start. And the timing really aligned nicely, that he was ready to invest in the people and to spend a lot of time focusing on the well-being of the people who work there.
“With that recognition that the service can’t function at its best if the people aren’t well. And he really believes that and has supported this project right from the start.”
What does the Wellness Navigation Project look like inside the police station at 45 CASO Crossing?
“We have counsellors connected to the organization who are in the building ready to take appointments and meeting with the first responders even while they’re on duty, which is a really neat opportunity for them to be able to go to appointments without having to navigate families and off-duty time and the appointments and other things that they have to navigate for family when they’re off-duty.
“It normalizes walking through the mental health door, if you will. And so what we’ve done is we’ve aligned with really great counsellors who are trauma-specific, first responder-specific counsellors. Who already see many of the people who work there.
“And so I connected with counsellors who were already trusted. And we worked to bring them right into the building just to make access easier, and then to normalize that experience of going to counselling and having appointments routinely.”
Don’t be surprised if The Wellness Navigation Project impacts elsewhere in the region, for instance, at the Ontario Police College near Aylmer.
“I have a meeting in a couple of weeks with the team that develops the curriculum there, and a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to contribute this information to the building of the new curriculum for all police recruits in Ontario.
“So it’s an incredible opportunity that I’m really, really looking forward to and one that really has the potential to have these bigger cultural impacts that I was hoping to have when I set out starting this work.
“Many years ago, I really never would have guessed that this type of work on this scale would have been possible. Now, the road is wide open.
“And so I hope to move all around Canada, bringing this information to hopefully be a big part of changing culture. It’s necessary. We need changes, and we need to do something to keep people in this job.
“We’re facing a crisis in policing. People are leaving. They’re not applying in the way that they used to. And we’re facing a crisis. And we have to do something, or our organizations are going to be empty or really struggling in a short time.”
The seed for how police services across the country might address mental well-being going forward was planted right here at the St. Thomas Police Service with the cultivation of The Wellness Navigation Project.

COMMUNITY GRANT POLICY UNDER THE MICROSCOPE, AGAIN

Over the past three or four terms of council, no subject area has generated more discussion than community grants.
At least a formal policy is now in place; however, it may not be as buttoned down as it needs to be.
A case in point transpired during Tuesday’s (Feb. 17) council meeting when debate centred on a funding request from the St. Thomas Elgin Food Bank for almost $9,900.
It was one of five proposals before council that evening.
The money is to be used for an addition to their loading dock, and city treasurer Adam Boylan recommended council approve the request.
The amount of the ask from the Food Bank prompted Coun. Jim Herbert to question whether or not there is an upper limit on community grants.
In the past, the majority of grants had been in the range of $3,000 or less.
Herbert advised that he was under the impression that the upper limit was $5,000 per request.
The grant policy may be a little vague in this area.
“I’m just hoping we’re going in the right direction,” cautioned Herbert.
He continued, “What if, all of a sudden, we’re getting a flood of requests for five or six thousand dollars?”
This year, there is a pool of $35,000 budgeted for community grants, and if there is an increase to the individual grant ceiling, fewer groups will benefit from this funding.

“If you don’t have the guts to say yes or no, then we’ll have to work around that. But that’s where we’re at. If it’s a good enough grant, then I expect us to say yes to it.”

Boylan attempted to clarify by noting, “According to council’s policy, which is attached to the agenda, $3,500 grant applica applications are the typical maximum, but you are allowed to have exceptional circumstances where you would approve in excess of that amount.”
However, it appears there is no firm direction for those exceptional circumstances, according to Boylan.
“There is no guidance in the policy as to what would constitute exceptional. So, we’ve done our best to interpret that on your behalf, but ultimately, that’s a council decision if you’re going to approve for something beyond the $3,500 limit. So it would be council’s choice each time it would happen.”
This prompted the following comments from Mayor Joe Preston directed toward Herbert.
“All the other groups can ask for grants, and then we either decide yes or no. So we become the bad guys again because we don’t have a limit.
“Sorry, Councillor Herbert, but that’s what council did to me right from the beginning. We are the bad guys. We make the decision. That’s why they come to council. Thank you.
“If you don’t have the guts to say yes or no, then we’ll have to work around that. But that’s where we’re at. If it’s a good enough grant, then I expect us to say yes to it.”
Coun. Steve Wookey reminded members that funding for the Food Bank was discussed last year, and council determined the best route was via a grant application.
“We’re not seeing this for the first time tonight. This was a result of discussions that happened six or eight months ago. I’m pleased to help the food bank do its good work.”
Coun. Joan Rymal added, “I wasn’t here six months ago, but I do think we should have a limit. You know, $10,000 is almost a third of what the whole grant budget is. So, to me, that does seem extreme.”
When it came time to vote, council was unanimous in approving the requested amount for the St. Thomas Elgin Food Bank, leaving about $19,000 available for community grant requests for the remainder of the year.
So, how is that community grant policy working out for you so far? Keeping in mind the advice of Dan Sheridan, the city’s previous financial director, who in 2021 noted, “Successful applications under the current (grant) policy are more likely to be for special events or one-time start-up funding for new community initiatives that align with council’s strategic priorities.”
Sheridan continued, “Grant applications that request funding for expenses that an organization incurs through its normal course of operations are not recommended for approval.
“These could be salaries, advertising or facility repairs, for example. Even costs that are one-time in nature can be considered operating costs if they are used to support the organization’s normal course of operations.”

Related post:

Is it safe to say St. Thomas finally has a community grant process in place?

IS CLARITY PENDING AS TO THE FUTURE OF THE RAILWAY MUSEUM?

Two public meetings next month, perhaps, will shed some light on the road ahead for the Elgin County Railway Museum.
On March 10, the public is invited to preview the concept designs “for the new Elgin County Railway Museum,” according to a promotional release.
The event runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at the CASO station.
And then on March 12, there is a public information meeting to update the community “on the current state of the Elgin County Railway Museum building and an exciting look at what the future could hold.”
There will be an overview of the current condition of the building, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for the structure.
There will be conceptual plans for future improvements, and public input is encouraged.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the CASO station, 750 Talbot Street in St. Thomas.

FOR THE CALENDAR

A vigil will be held tomorrow (Feb. 22) from 4 until 5:30 p.m. at Central United Church on Wellington Street to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the war against Ukraine. The event is hosted by the Elgin County Ukraine Community.

THE ECHO CHAMBER

Responding to our recent articles on the future of the Elgin County Railway Museum, Molly Swift posted this on our Facebook page.

“The museum has previously indicated on federal grant applications that the city of St Thomas would be willing to provide 3 million dollars in funding for the museum.
“Also, the city claims they just became aware of the 2022 structural engineering report, but there really isn’t a lot of focus on the fact that they’ve known about this massive problem at least since 2016, when the original stop work order was put in place (by their own admission).
“And according to the museum land sale deal, the city’s knowledge of the issues predates 2009, when they sold the land to the museum.
“I certainly find the discrepancies in the statements being put out very confusing.”

And following up on our item last week on Mayor Joe Preston’s announcement that he will not seek re-election, Shell Bell passes along this thought.

“Joe Preston deserves family time. From Wendy’s to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, to a great mayor, he deserves quality family time. I wish him the best.”

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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.