Journey to Hope is a Moose Jaw-born organization that raises awareness of suicide and suicide prevention, including helping those who have lost someone to suicide, and the group's youth chapter annual Open Mic Night is coming up on Feb. 15 at The Hive.
"Journey to Hope Moose Jaw believes in the power of creative expression to inspire and ignite hope, whether that's through the cathartic process of creating and sharing, or through listening to another," said Della Ferguson, founder of Journey to Hope.
"In the past, we have had spoken poetry, prose, rap, songs, and paintings. Every year, without fail, attendees leave feeling uplifted, inspired, and empowered. I trust this year will 'wow' folks once again."
Kerrie Binetruy, a teacher at Central Collegiate and the Journey to Hope Youth Chapter liaison for the school, said the event is a way to encourage creative expression among the youth, build their organizational skills, and connect with adult community members affected by suicide and mental health issues.
"This is an event we’ve had for a few years — we took a break during COVID —, but it’s all about sharing hope, resiliency, awareness, and connection," Binetruy explained. "The adult Journey to Hope community lead for our student group is Della Ferguson, and their team supports us to carry out the ideas the kids come up with.
"We have some amazingly creative youth in our midst, so we decided to come together and share and at the same time promote awareness around suicide prevention and do some fundraising to improve mental health supports in our community."
The evening will be hosted by The Hive Café at 23 Main Street North, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15.
Binetruy said that past events have seen presentations mostly by Journey to Hope's youth members, but as an open mic night, adults can share, too.
The rules are that presentations must be family friendly, take five minutes or less per person, and follow the Journey to Hope themes of Hope, Honouring, and Healing.
Pre-registering to present is preferred by emailing [email protected].
"Because it’s an Open Mic, we opened the sharing to others," Binetruy said. "We've had many wonderful adults participate by sharing songs, stories, and poems.
"People can sign up to share on the spot that day or they can register ahead, which we prefer, by emailing us their presentation title and name."
Learn more about Journey to Hope, their mission, and the many suicide awareness and prevention resources they offer at journeytohope.synthasite.com/journey2hope-youth-chapter.php, or on their social media channels.
