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Mental health advocacy is ‘love letter’ to family, says new head of CMHA-YRSS

July 30, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brock Weir

As a caregiver to a parent with persistent mental illness, Andrew Chung knows all too well the challenges that come in finding appropriate resources in the community.

They are lived experiences that have fuelled his career as an advocate for mental health and they continue to drive him as he takes over the Canadian Mental Health Association of York Region and South Simcoe (CMHA-YRSS) as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Chung, whose appointment as CEO was announced by CMHA-YRSS last week, succeeds Rebecca Shields as head of the Aurora-based organization and he comes to the table with more than 20 years of leadership experience in the healthcare and community service sectors.

Previously President and CEO of HF Care (formerly Hong Fook Mental Health Association) where he was instrumental in making the non-profit a leader in culturally-responsive mental health care, Chung was hailed as a “collaborative and visionary leader” by Rob Bull, Chair of the CMHA-YRSS’ Board of Directors.

“Throughout the search process, we were looking for someone who could build on our organization’s strong foundation while helping shape the future of community mental health,” said Bull. “Andrew’s commitment to innovation, partnership, and equity make him the right leader for the next chapter.”

The next chapter for the CMHA-YRSS promises to be a significant one as they face unprecedented demand for community mental health services while developing the future York Region Mental Health Community Centre in Newmarket.

“My commitment to going into social services, non-profits, and mental health care is really a love letter to my family and really in the hopes that I can be a part of changing the way we provide care in a way that reduces stigma and ways that we can actually provide real care that families…deserve, and that extends to everything from primary care to getting help to do your day to day living,” says Chung, the son of Korean immigrants, who found there was “no real culturally-competent responsive care” for diverse populations when his family embarked on their difficult journey.

“That’s why mental health care is really important to me.”

The CMHA-YRSS has been a close partner with HF Care and the two organizations collaborated on the creation of programs addressing care in diverse populations. When the opportunity came to join the CMHA-YRSS, Chung says he saw a clear chance to make a difference at the community level.

“It’s further proof the CMHA can really keep people healthy in their communities and at home, which is what we want,” says Chung of being able to steer The Centre to completion. “We don’t want people to go to the hospital if they don’t need to because every emergency department visit can be incredibly traumatic and costly in many ways. Because the CMHA is large in its size, scope, and scale, it’s not just about delivering services, but there’s a real opportunity to be a leader in systems change and also in connecting our community members who may not be as familiar about what is really going on with mental health care.”

Given the scale of the CMHA in York Region and South Simcoe, Chung says he’s still “getting to know all the nuances” of their expansive programs and services, but sees opportunities at the community level to address some of the underlying factors that can impact or exacerbate mental health challenges. He’s a firm believer in the adage, “the character of a community is defined by how it takes care of the most vulnerable” and says it’s a guiding principle he will host close as the health care system goes through “some pretty big changes.”
“We know how costly it can be with emergency department visits; we have an aging population, it’s becoming more diverse, and it’s an increasingly complex world,” he says. “Post-COVID, we’ve gone from a place of scarcity to precarity. How we address people’s concerns certainly needs to change a little bit. The determinants of health that are becoming very real and highlighted, things like why housing is so fundamental to good mental health, why income security is so fundamental to good mental health – I think that in the age of precarity it can deepen a wedge of us and them, but I actually think the success story is about how we all do it together, like housing for all, income security for all, and how that is directly related to our own mental health, how we care for those with persistent mental illness and addictions… I feel like this can be a really defining time for the communities that CMHA is in to really hold that to a standard on how are we going to reflect the character of our community and how do we take care of the most vulnerable?

“I would love to see for those who are providing housing, we’re seeing this more as a partnership to recognize… the separation that we created between physical care and mental health care, and housing and food security as examples, they’re all artificial separations that we’ve done to try and address a problem in more digestible ways, but no longer really serving us…. Housing is super touchy because notionally I believe that folks want everybody housed but it’s in the how and where and the trust in organizations that we can deliver on that commitment without causing things like stress or distress to other folks. I get that that’s a real reality but it’s a fine balance and so I think that the external factors around creating empathy and also inviting external folks in to help us develop a strategy that allows everyone to win.”

Chung holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Healthcare Policy and Research from Cornell University, where he was recognized as the 2023 Dr. Lorna Breen Mental Health Fellow. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Toronto Metropolitan University.

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