Residents of the Sarnia, ON region have had a rough few months.  Several young people in the community have taken their own lives, leaving behind confused and devastated parents, family members, teachers and friends. 

One resident, Gabrielle Stringer, decided to take action and rally the community together for support, and to promote education around depression and suicide.  Gabrielle used facebook to create a petition around the issue of suicide prevention and awareness.  After just a few short days, this petition had been signed by thousands of people.  She also organized a community event at a local hall, involving young people, local businesses, and local resources, to create a forum for discussion and sharing around the issue of mental health and young people. 

Upon hearing of the suicides in Sarnia, mindyourmind reached out to Gabrielle and to the local school board, offering resources and support.  The video link summarizes Gabrielle’s successful event, and shows the resources that mindyourmind helped create:  Possibility Packages.  These are envelopes filled with lists of local support agencies, mindyourmind posters and a personal letter written by a mindyourmind volunteer to the youth of Sarnia about healing, hope, and resiliency.  The envelopes were packaged and decorated by local youth, and were handed out to all in attendance of the event. 

We at mindyourmind were proud to help Gabrielle, and to be a small part of her efforts to promote good mental health in her community. 

-Andrea, mindyourmind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiet0J-dfzk