Walk for mental health grows into third year

The Sashbear Walk for Mental Health raised close to $8,100 and attracted 129 participants, more than ever before for the third annual event on May 23.

Steinbach walk coordinator Marisol Pulido shared her gratitude for those who walk alongside each other in their mental health journeys.

“We need to be together,” she told the crowd preparing to walk outside the Steinbach Arts Council’s facility in Steinbach. “We need to be working as a community towards mental health, and we are not going to do it alone.”

“You guys are not alone,” she added.

While the Sashbear Walk for Mental Health is only in its third year here in Steinbach, it has existed in other parts of Canada for 14 years.

The Sashbear Foundation is a charity that is a voice for families impacted by emotion dysregulation, suicidality and related mental health challenges. The foundation trains and empowers family members to share life-transforming skills with a goal of building community and hope through evidence-based family programs, advocacy and education.

Their website describes their vision of having a “stigma free world where life coping skills, support and hope are available and accessible to anyone in need.”

Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk shared his own experiences with mental health before the walk.

Funk, who is also a butcher and owner of Earl’s Meat Market, recalled a time in 2011 when a fire in his business snatched from him the ability to smoke meat.

“Being a meat shop in Steinbach, if you can’t make farmer sausage you basically might as well shut your door,” he said.

He spoke of the challenge of living without something that was an integral part of himself but also expressed thankfulness for those who walked alongside him.

“We need everybody in order to make it through our mental health challenges,” he said.

Andrea Dixon, director of Monarch Child and Family Therapy, also spoke to participants, sharing how important support is.

“What we see over and over again is that the children who heal are not the ones who simply receive the right therapy in the right office,” she said. “They are the ones who have people, people who show up, who stay, who say without words, ‘You are not alone in this’. That’s what today is all about.”

Elizabeth Giesbrecht also shared her story of recovery with those gathered.

She said she began struggling in 2003, adding that back then people didn’t talk about mental health.

Finding Sashbear not only led her to recovery but involved her family who also worked through the Connecting Families program.

“As a mom, and as somebody who does social work in the community, what this program and what this community has taught me is that just because I’m more sensitive or I’m struggling doesn’t mean I’m not strong,” she said. “I’m doing a lot better even when life is hard sometimes.”

Pulido said they appreciate their sponsors for coming alongside them to make this event happen, adding it’s about more than fundraising.

“We know that someone reading or hearing these stories may find hope in knowing they are not alone,” she said after the event.

For more information and to access help go to www.sashbear.org.