The members of Journey to Hope will be kept busy this fall.
They will of course be holding their annual fundraising walk for suicide awareness and prevention in Crescent Park on Saturday, Sept. 26.
But that is just the beginning.
The goal is to increase awareness about mental awareness and suicide prevention. That is especially important these days, as group member Della Ferguson says the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining has “Intensified peoples’ mental health issues” and increased anxiety.
“We need connection…If we have struggled with out self-talk or our own strategies then being isolated now limits our coping capacity,” said Ferguson. “It has been a challenge.”
Ferguson says they have heard from members of the community who are worried about loved ones. She says this is concerning, and it is partly why Journey to Hope is increasing its efforts to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.
“We are calling it ‘Getting Loud for Mental Health,’ so we are raising awareness in bigger ways through our community. My concern is that these people came to us and they hadn’t heard of our work. If you haven’t heard then that means you haven’t seen the information that we have out there. That means we need to be louder so that our whole community is blanketed with awareness.”
The group is taking on several initiatives, include postcards mailed out via copies of The Moose Jaw Express, posters for businesses to place in windows, and a billboard on Main St. South that provides useful information about suicide prevention.
Journey to Hope is also offering several online training opportunities through the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Helping Others thru Peer Education (H.O.P.E.) Learning Centre. This includes the Tattered Teddies training program on Sept. 23 and Straight Talk training on Sept. 30. These programs will be offered free of charge. Call 306-631-4315 for more information.
“We are trying to get our community educated and aware so they are not operating off assumptions and myths but operating off of best practices. We are trying to encourage training everywhere,” said Ferguson. “If you want to register, we will pay for that, if you are in our health region. That is how much we want to invest in this happening.”
The group is also launching a new program called ‘Voices for Hope’ on Sept. 10, which is World Suicide Prevention Day.
“A member of our Journey to Hope team, Nicole Hebert, is creating an opportunity for people to do a video interview with her on ways they have found hope and broken through barriers,” said Ferguson. “It is a way of telling stories and, again, breaking silence, and having an opportunity and a platform for positivity. We will have that running through our Journey to Hope Facebook page.”
That will be followed by the annual Hope Summit, which will be held virtually on Nov. 7. Another event will take place on Nov. 21, which is International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. There will be either an online only event or it will be held face-to-face. Currently, the plan is to hold it at Riverview at 10 a.m.
Ultimately, it is all about education and connection.
“We are trying to inform our community, to empower our community, so that we can be the best that we can be for each other through the good times and the really tough times.”
