Stepping out for mental health

More than 70 people attended a mental health awareness event sharing stories and walking around town on Saturday.

A big crowd in bright orange shirts, a polar bear mascot, and a few service dogs walked around Steinbach’s downtown to bring awareness to mental health.

“I feel blessed that people are brave enough to show up to the walk. It’s not easy to recognize. For some people just the term of mental health will drive them away,” said Marisol Pulido, event organizer.

The Sashbear Foundation is a charity that provides mental health resources for families, and hosts fundraising walks for awareness.

Pulido said her motivation to bring the event to Steinbach is from her experience with “severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), and an effort to understand the struggles of her family member.

She said often when a person is struggling they usually go to therapy, but their families are left to figure out how to support and cope on their own.

One of the speakers was Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk, who shared a story about his business, Earl’s Meat Market.

Funk said he was working over 86 hours in a week at the start of his meat store, until its smokehouse room’s chimney in the back of the building caught on fire in May 2010.

“Everything changed. I felt my life had stopped,” said Funk. “I went into a deep, dark, depression.”

After the speech, there were mindfulness activities, vendors with keychains and wristbands, and 50/50 raffle sales.

Earls Meat Market provided hotdogs for lunch, and the local Starbucks gave coffee.

“Mental health is a reality. It’s part of us, it’s not going anywhere,” said Allison Kagaaga, a 52-year-old counselling student at Providence University College & Theological Seminary.

The event in Steinbach raised more than $4,100.