Journey to Hope Moose Jaw looked back at a successful year during their annual general meeting on Thursday night. 

Financially, Journey to Hope had an income of $35,376.93 and expenses of $58,024.42 for a deficit of $22,647.49. They had an opening balance of $60,650.85 and the year end as of July 31 was $38,003.35. 

While the organization ran a deficit, chair Della Ferguson said it was money well invested into the community. 

“We spent money, invested money in our community and we have said all along that we are not here to build an account. We are here to build community,” she said. 

In the schools, Journey to Hope once again had their youth chapter consisting of volunteer teachers and students at Central, Peacock and Riverview high schools who worked as "Hope Ambassadors." 

The youth chapter held its annual fundraising event in September and held a joint gathering to watch the jack.org presentation.  

Riverview took part in the "Be There" certification and worked on the Toasty Toes project. 

The youth chapter took part in the Square One Community Walk for Warmth and on March 16 they held an Open Mic Night at The Hive. 

“It was an evening of complete inspiration as students shared their creativity through prose, poetry and music,” Ferguson said. 

Journey to Hope sponsored screening for mental health for both the Prairie South School Division and the Holy Trinity Catholic School Division. They also sponsored advocacy and behavioural consultants for both divisions as well as MindWise Digital Trauma-Informed Academy for Prairie South School Division's consultants. 

Ferguson participated as a member of the Community Wellness Collaborative, which hosted an all0-school virtual mental health wellness conference that included guest speakers Humboldt Broncos crash survivor Tyler Smith, motivational speaker Sam Demma and Moose Jaw musician Megan Nash. 

Journey to Hope sponsored the 2023 Prairie South School Division Hope Ambassador Scholarship which went to Central Collegiate's Rozwell Qimio. 

Journey to Hope's Voices of Hope and Voices of Recovery had three interviews that were shared in September, October and November. More interviews are coming in the new year and the hope is to grow the interviews to four to six willing community members to share their stories. 

“There are so many willing community members coming forward and sharing their personal truths, knowledge, injuries, and wellness and recovery. We will be continuing to do interviews throughout the summer to record and then sharing them through the fall and winter seasons,” said board member Nicole Hebert 

Journey to Hope provided some training for staff of agencies and the general public when it comes to mental health. Some of the agencies that reached out for training included Moose Jaw Family Services, the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council, the John Howard Society, the Canadian Mental Health Association Moose Jaw Branch, Lakeview Health and Wellness, St. Andrews Church, Saskatchewan Polytechnic Palliser Campus, and Notre Dame College. 

Over the past year, 66 participants completed the mental health first aid course, 18 participants took the Applied Suicide Interventions Skills Training, 22 took part in SafeTALK and seven participated in the START online suicide awareness course. 

“I also helped with the development of a presentation that could be taken out at any time on who Journey to Hope is and what we do. This was done in a PowerPoint format and notes. So, any one of us can take it out and deliver it,” said board member Donna Atsu-Bowyer. 

One of the big fundraisers for Journey to Hope was Ruck It Up for Mental Health. Spearheaded once again by Brett Hagan, Tyler Simpson and Chris Robart, this year's event raised over $6,500 and the event continues to grow. 

“We found at this event too, that we had more numbers that increased from the previous year. I know the Ruck It Up crew has started including some of the schools as well,” Hebert said. 

Joyce Aitken once again created a quilt to be raffled off in support of Journey to Hope in memory of Gord Aitken's death. The winner of the 2022 quilt was Corine Bader. 

Journey to Hope partnered with Todd Bell and B & B Fruit Stand to host a Peach Drive in July. 

In collaboration with the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital's Mental Health and Addictions unit and the ER Department, Journey to Hope Moose Jaw sponsored 50 "We Care Kits" given to people at the hospital with suicidal ideations. 

Journey to Hope donated $1,000 to the Canadian Mental Health Saskatchewan Division's Hope Learning Centre and purchased a button maker and supplies and a canopy tent for CMHA Moose Jaw. 

Getting Loud for Mental Wellness 2.0 saw Journey to Hope create and publish 15,000 copies for articles and resources from community mental health wellness supports. 

Journey to Hope partnered in the Community Collaborative Conversation that took place April 26 and 27 at the Mae Wilson Theatre and featured speakers Eugene Arcand, Michael Redhead Champagne, Amanda Gebhard and Heather Carter. 

They sponsored the 2023 Community Pride Week event, giving seed money so that the event could be held. 

In partnership with the John Howard Society, Journey to Hope sponsored the Good Friday Breakfast for those who are food insecure in the community. 

On Sept. 9, they held a World Suicide Prevention Day event with More Joy Movement founder Christalee Froese holding a virtual presentation. 

Journey to Hope also sponsored the Every Child Matters Pow Wow on Sept. 30 and volunteered in the memorial section of the event. 

Nicole Hebert and Megan Nash took the lead on a presentation at the Military Family Resource Centre in 2022. 

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