When mental health champion Colleen O’Connell-Campbell told her friend Sarwar Qureshi that she planned to have 50 coffees with 50 people — donating $20 from each conversation to Ottawa Salus — he came up with an even better idea.

Why hold so many one-on-one meetings when she could bring everyone together for one big talk at one of his Beyond Networking gatherings? It would give participants an opportunity to learn about a charity that wasn’t likely on their radar. It certainly wasn’t on Qureshi’s.

“This is part of the problem,” acknowledged O’Connell-Campbell. “Not enough people know about it, and yet it’s been around for 40 years.”

On Friday, O’Connell-Campbell spoke briefly to 60 attendees about the work the charitable organization is doing in the areas of mental health and homelessness during a sold-out power brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa. Because her talk allowed her to complete her personal challenge, she announced she was making a $1,200 donation to Salus, where she serves on the board.

The wealth advisor with RBC Dominion Securities and podcast host is a former board member with The Royal Ottawa Foundation and founding member of its Women for Mental Health movement. As well, she’s a supporter of Susan Blain’s Dare to Be Vulnerable project.

Twenty-one years ago, O’Connell-Campbell lost her younger brother, who was 24, to suicide.

The room heard how Ottawa Salus provides support and transitional housing to individuals living with complex mental health and/or substance use challenges. “I often wonder, if my brother were still here, if he might be a client of Salus,” said O’Connell-Campbell while citing mental health and housing as two of the “most urgent issues” in Ottawa today.

Ottawa Salus board member Colleen O’Connell-Campbell announced her donation of $1,200 during the Beyond Networking event held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 205. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Salus was started in the 1970s by a group of professionals who wanted to create a safe, supportive place for people with mental illness to live after leaving the hospital. What started as one facility has grown to 15 buildings across the city, serving more than 1,000 people a year. The organization also works with Ottawa Community Housing and private landlords.

The wait to get into a Salus supportive housing option can take years, said Ottawa Salus president and CEO Mark MacAulay, while noting the cost for the organization to house a person is only a fraction of what it costs a jail or hospital, both places where individuals can often end up.

The charitable organization sees itself as part of the solution to the current housing and mental health crisis. Said MacAulay: “We’re really challenging the status quo. As an organization with really strong roots, we’re really thinking about how we can go from incremental growth to exponential growth.”

Salus is on target to double its capacity ahead of its 2030 goal, he said. “The thing is, we need to double that again. That’s how much demand there is out there for the services we offer in the community.”

Ottawa Salus client Claire Burrows, who lives with a mental health condition, shared how the organization equipped her with the tools to live independently and secure employment. “I went from feeling scared and completely lost to feeling confident and reassured that I could succeed,” said Burrows, who was the speaker at Soirée Salus held at the French embassy in 2023 (one of the highlights for her was speaking in front of hockey hero Daniel Alfredsson, who attended the soirée).

Salus is currently working on a 54-unit supportive housing development for older adults on Capilano Drive, near Merivale Road. It’s also partnering with the Matthew Perry Foundation on a new facility.

From left, Beyond Networking organizer Sarwar Qureshi, guest speaker Claire Burrows, Jesse Maione (philanthropy/communications coordinator at Ottawa Salus), Andrea Olsen-Black (manager of philanthropy/community engagement at Ottawa Salus), Mark MacAulay (president and CEO at Ottawa Salus) and Ottawa Salus board member Colleen O’Connell-Campbell, wealth advisor with RBC Dominion Securities. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Beyond Networking was originally created by Qureshi as a way of introducing professionals and business owners to one another through activities. Some of the gatherings are held during the day, recognizing that attendees may be busy with family responsibilities after work. Qureshi, a chartered professional accountant, is a partner at Paterson & Company.

He’s also president of the Ottawa chapter of M&A Club, a board member with ONFE (Ottawa Network for Education), and the father of three young children, with a fourth on the way next month. He was born, raised and educated in Ottawa, earning his commerce degree in accounting from the University of Ottawa.

Qureshi kept busy during the brunch chatting with attendees and helping to make introductions. At one point, the conversations were interrupted when one attendee, local realtor Fady Khudair, brought out a dessert with a single candle to celebrate Qureshi’s birthday, the crowd singing along. A few moments later, another dessert appeared, this time for lawyer Ines Jelic, an estate litigation lawyer at Merovitz Potechin LLP.

“You can feel the energy in the room when people get together with their vibe and tribe,” Qureshi commented. “And when you have a chance to connect and you have a chance to meet like-minded people, great things are possible.”

Interior designer Juwana Abu-Zeinah at the Beyond Networking brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 205. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Le Germain Hotel Ottawa director of business development Rachel Roesner and the hotel’s general manager, Jacques-Alexandre Paquet, dropped into the Beyond Networking brunch held at the downtown hotel on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Michel Nungisa, lead counsel and workplace investigator at Nungisa Law, with Carine Toham Ngoy and Nike Shittu Oreyomi, co-founders of NCTL Group, a Black-led, multi-family development and investment company based in Ottawa, at the Beyond Networking brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Ottawa Salus board member Colleen O’Connell-Campbell and client Claire Burrows, who shared how the non-profit organization helped her with the tools to live independently, during the Beyond Networking brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Zaria Hasan, tax manager at McCay Duff LLP, Nicole Merriman, senior manager at McCay Duff LLP, and Alex Dorward, COO at WebMarketers and CEO/managing director of Ascribe Marketing, at the Beyond Networking brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Ines Jelic, a lawyer at Merovitz Potechin LLP, received a birthday surprise at the Beyond Networking brunch held at the downtown hotel on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Danika Edirisinghe, a client associate at CIBC Wood Gundy Blostein-Beumer Investment Group, in conversation with Michel Nungisa, lead counsel and workplace investigator at Nungisa Law, at the Beyond Networking brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Chartered professional accountant Sarwar Qureshi, founder of Beyond Networking, was celebrated with a birthday dessert. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Attendees of Beyond Networking connect during a brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Attendees of Beyond Networking connect during a brunch held at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Some 60 attendees gathered at Le Germain Hotel Ottawa on Friday, April 4, 2025 for a sold-out networking brunch that also raised awareness for Ottawa Salus, a non-profit organization working in the areas of mental health and housing support. Photo by Caroline Phillips

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