By John Finefrock
The Mental Health Awareness Walk is this Saturday, May 22, and you are invited to this free event.
This year, the 7th-12th grade students of YouthRise are planning the event. They wished to continue the vision set forth two years ago by event co-founders Sarah Ross and Diana Scott, citing that mental health among young people has not been great amid the struggles and lack of in-person social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic — and that mental health is not talked about openly in their lives.
They want to tell our community: People with mental health issues are not alone — and there is help.
The walk will start at 10am at Town Park on Saturday and meander up Main St., eventually ending at Yamaguchi Park, where informational booths will be set up with mental health resources — and our inspirational guest speaker, Ethan Fisher, will speak around 11am at Yamaguchi Park.
The first 50 people to register for the walk will receive a free event t-shirt, and some are still available! You can register by sending an email to john@riseaboveviolence.org or by calling or texting 970-403-5461. The registration table will be set up from 9-10am at the event.
Ethan Fisher grew up in a family that didn’t talk about mental health. He self-medicated throughout his teenage years, and developed a years-long battle with alcoholism and substance abuse that ultimately landed him in jail with a three-year prison sentence. Fisher has been sober since 2004, and was the first athlete in Colorado to play college basketball on ‘inmate status’ during his sentence, where he earned All-Conference and Most Valuable Player awards. We look forward to having him as our guest speaker tomorrow.
Rise Above Violence is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides 24-hour support and advocacy services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault or other forms of violence. Visit www.riseaboveviolence.org for more information or call (970) 264-9075 to talk to an advocate today.
John Finefrock is Youth Advocate with Rise Above Violence.