An educator who taught Faisal Hussain in the Youth Skills Connection Program in Thorncliffe almost five years ago says she was devastated when she found out about the Danforth shooting.
Sajel Bellon, who led the program which aimed to train members of the community to get back into the workforce, said she had seen a positive transformation in Hussain from the start of the program to the end.
Toronto police said a gunman, who was later identified as Hussain, shot and killed two people on Danforth Avenue Sunday night and injured 13 people. Police said an exchange of gunfire ensued and Hussein died of a gunshot wound, which a police source later told Global News was self-inflicted.
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Bellon told Global News on Thursday that she noticed Hussain on the very first day of class because he was very “disengaged, very quiet.” At first she couldn’t make any progress with getting through to him but continued to try to engage him while “respecting his space and his boundaries.”
Within three weeks of the program, which ran once a week for three hours from September 2013 to November 2014, she said she saw the 29-year-old transform.
“I really respected where he was at in the moment — very protected. So I wasn’t over invasive for him but at the same time I let him know and gave him cues that I haven’t forgotten about him and that I knew he was there and welcome to participate at any time and in whatever capacity that looked like,” she said. “And by the third week, we had him in the centre of the room, fully open.”
“No more hoodie, totally engaging with his peers in class, relating with the content we were delivering and by the end of the program, we were seeing a full transformation.”
Bellon said Hussain completed the course “ready and willing to go out there and get a job and move onto the next phase of his life.”
A statement released on behalf of his family on Monday said Hussain suffered from “severe mental health issues, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life.”
Bellon said she suspected Hussain suffered from depression, but said when he left the program, he was a success story and had found a job.
That year of the provincially funded program was the only year that it ran because it didn’t receive the funding necessary for a second year.
For the human wellness specialist, she said Ontario’s mental health system suffers from many “gaps.”
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“It’s not just one layer of issue or dynamic that we need to be looking at. There’s cultural issues, there’s financial issues, there are societal issues, there are understandings about mental health and understanding sometimes about reactionary issues,” she said. “It’s not as simple as everyone is trying to make it out to be.”
“I think there’s a lot of nuances and dynamics that play into this and I think we really need to look at it from a systemic level.”
For Hussain and his family, Bellon said they might not have known enough resources or even where to go to get the help needed.
It’s not about reinstating specific programs or holding workshops on-and-off. Bellon said it is about embedding “life skills and practices in our organizations, into our institutions and into our governments.”
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“We really need something that’s far more connected so not one area or one system is not bearing the full load and burden, but we as a community really learn about human connection and how much human connection can impact our well-being as well as others.”
Bellon said she wished the program that Hussain took part in continued because it was helping to keep the community engaged and focused on the more positive aspects of their lives.
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Meanwhile, the Ontario government announced it would provide $1.9 billion for mental health over the next decade, a stark decline from the $2.1 billion the previous Liberal government pledged to spend over the next four years to rebuild the mental health system.
The governing Tories said Tuesday the initiatives included in the Liberal plan had been cancelled.
The NDP have voiced their displeasure at the cut, saying it will bring the province’s mental health crisis from bad to worse.
“Today, there are over 12,000 children waiting up to 18 months for mental health supports, and there are 13,000 people in Toronto waiting up to five years for supportive housing. Addictions and Mental Health Ontario says $2.4 billion in new funding is needed over the next four years,” NDP leader Andrea Horwath said during question period on Thursday.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long term Care Christine Elliott disputed the NDP’s claim Thursday.
“What we are doing is making the biggest commitment to put money into mental health and addictions support in Canadian history – $3.8 billion over ten years – $1.9 billion from the provincial to match the $1.9 billion from the federal government.”
—With files from The Canadian Press, Catherine McDonald and Jamie Mauracher
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