Network aids students with mental health issues
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Lucas Walters had to deal with body image and sexuality issues growing up in Clarenville, N.L.
“What I found was the help was not there. I didn’t know how to talk about what was bothering me. The resources weren’t there,” Walters said days after returning from Toronto, where he participated in his third Jack Summit, the largest gathering in Canada of young leaders working to revolutionize mental health.
Walters, a student at Memorial University in St. John’s and a Jack.org network representative, helped organize the event and participated in a small group meeting with federal Minister of Health Ginette Petitpas Taylor to discuss the state of the nation, barriers in communities across Canada and how to work collectively to combat mental health problems.
“Communities need and demand places where people can talk about mental health issues,” he said.
When he got to Memorial University, he had lots of energy and a need to make a difference but didn’t know where to channel it. Then he met a Jack.org representative.
“I learned so much, how to tell my story safely and communicate with others like me,” Walters said. “I can learn from the network I am involved with, the feet on the ground, what we can do (collectively) to benefit others.”
There are many chapters across the Atlantic region; three in Newfoundland.
MUN’s Grenfell campus is hosting a regional summit Sunday. The Jack Talks program uses contact-based education and peer-to-peer outreach to teach students about mental health via mental health presentations delivered to young people by young people.
Walters is majoring in psychology, with a minor in gender studies. He says talking about mental health, stigma, positive psychology and gender are among his priorities.
“I have a number of things I want to accomplish, including more Jack talks in (the province). We need to go into high schools and institutions in rural communities that don’t have access to mental health educators,” he said. “If we keep listening and reach out to those communities, we can make a difference.”
Walters is part of a group of 12 leaders chosen through a competitive application process to represent the network across Canada.
Jack.org’s mission is to train and empower a national network of young leaders to revolutionize mental health and to leverage this network for systems-level change.
It was founded when a university student, Jack Windeler, died by suicide in 2010. He had shown some warning signs, including social isolation and behaviour changes, but his family and peers either didn’t see them or didn’t recognize them.
Jack’s parents, Eric Windeler and Sandra Hanington, started Jack.org to ensure that young people get the help they need.
More than 2,500 young leaders now work across Canada to ensure that young people are comfortable talking about their mental health, and that those who need it get the help they deserve.