Mental Health Series for the Community

March 9, 2023

Brock CHC is pleased to announce several upcoming community events focusing on mental health.  The focus will be on education, community connection, compassion and coping mechanisms.

There’s No Health Without Mental Health

Tuesday, March 21, 2023     11am – 2pm     Beaverton Legion
Monday, March 27, 2023     11am – 2pm     Manilla Hall

Join us for an engaging and informative workshop featuring:

• Mental Health Awareness and Information – Jane Douglas, Social Worker, Brock CHC
• Services and Supports in Your Community – Jennifer Josephson, Seniors and Community Health Worker, Brock CHC
• Learn About the Benefits of Laughing Yoga – Cathy Nesbitt, Certified Laughter Yoga Instructor

Everyone is welcome!  No cost.  Lunch will be provided.  Door prizes and welcome bags!  Space is limited.  To register, call 705.432.3322 ext. 105 or email [email protected].

Let’s Talk About Mental Health

Tuesday, March 28, 2023     7-8pm     Virtual via Zoom

Brock CHC welcomes Tammy Whelen, Mental Health Educator for a one-hour virtual community workshop that encourages discussion about mental health, challenges societal beliefs, offers free accessible resources in the community and recommends simple approaches to maintaining mental wellbeing.  Everyone is welcome!  No cost.  To register, call 705.432.3322 ext. 106 or email [email protected].

See, Ask, Listen and Help

Wednesday, March 29, 2023     7-8pm     Virtual via Zoom

If someone you care about was having thoughts of suicide, would you recognize the signs?  Join Tammy Whelen, Mental Health Educator, for this one-hour virtual community workshop to learn what to look for, how to have a conversation, support and offer valuable resources.  Everyone is welcome!  No cost.  To register, call 705.432.3322 ext. 106 or email [email protected].

Open Heart, Open Mind – Clara Hughes

Thursday, March 30, 2023     Brock High School (Students and Staff ONLY)

From one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians comes a raw but life-affirming story of one woman’s struggle with depression.  In a world where winning meant everything, her biggest competitor was herself.

In 2006, when Clara Hughes stepped onto the Olympic podium in Torino, Italy, she became the first and only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Games.  Four years later, she was proud to carry the Canadian flag for Team Canada as they participated in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.  But there’s another story behind her celebrated career as an athlete, behind her signature billboard smile.

While most competitive athletes devote their entire lives to training, Hughes spent her teenage years using drugs and drinking to escape the stifling home life her alcoholic father had created in Elmwood, Winnipeg.  She was headed nowhere fast when, at sixteen, she watched transfixed in her living room as gold medal speed skater Gaétan Boucher effortlessly raced in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.  Dreaming of one day competing herself, Hughes channeled her anger, frustration, and raw ambition into the endurance sports of speed skating and cycling.  By 2010, she had become a six-time Olympic medalist.

After more than a decade in the grueling world of competitive sports that stripped away her confidence and bruised her body, Hughes began to realize that her physical extremes, her emotional setbacks, and her partying habits were masking a severe depression.  After winning bronze in the last speed skating race of her career, she decided to retire from that sport, determined to repair herself.  She has since emerged as one of our most committed humanitarians, advocating for a variety of social causes both in Canada and around the world.  In 2010, she became a national spokesperson for the Bell Let’s Talk campaign in support of mental health awareness, using her Olympic platform to share the positive message of the power of forgiveness.

Told with honesty and passion, “Open Heart, Open Mind” is Hughes’ personal journey through physical and mental pain to a life where love and understanding can thrive.  This revelatory and inspiring story will touch the hearts of all Canadians.

This incredible in-person event is limited to Brock High School students and staff.  The event will be recorded and livestreamed to all DDSB high schools.  Brock CHC will have access to the recording for 30 days.  Please contact Travis Dukelow, Youth and Community Health Worker. if you would like a link to the recording.  Call 705.432.3322 ext. 104 or email [email protected].