A local organization on the front lines of assisting Indigenous youth and families in Winnipeg's inner-city is getting some much needed funding. 

The Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre announced today that a number of organizations have come together to pledge a combined $200,000 to help support the launch of the Strengthening Wellness Education to Love Life (SWELL) at Ma Mawi.

SWELL is program developed by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Ma Mawi Executive Director Diane Redsky thinks it will help address the suicide epidemic among Indigenous youth. 

"We are losing our young people and there's a sense of hoplessness and helplessness," said Redsky. "The people who are building the relationships with youths on the front lines don't have the proper training, tools or equipment to help." 

Redsky says SWELL is a program that has been proven to work, based on research done by the CMHA.

"It's 100 per cent a preventable tragedy and we can now stop that from happening."

The money will be used to train over 2,000 volunteers from different organizations in the city, according to Redsky. 

This includes a number of programs, such as Ma Mawi and the CMHA teaming up to deliver culturally relevant mental health programs to Indigenous youth and their families and equipping Indigenous families with healthy tools for mental health promotion.

They will also train volunteers in Mental Health First Aid for First Nations and will teach volunteers about safeTALK, a half-day alertness training session that prepares anyone over the age of 15 to become a suicide-alert helper. SWELL will also engage youth through an annual Indigenous Youth Summit, which will give them a chance to speak with each other and voice their concerns about mental health care.

"We don't need to start from scratch which is important," said Redsky. "This is the best way we can have some consistent service across the board."

Redsky says many volunteers working with Indigenous youth already deal with mental health issues in the community but don't have the proper tools to help in the best way possible.

"At the time of crisis we don't always have the proper knowledge to be able to deal with these situations," she said. "That's a gap that this program now fills."