For their second annual event, Journey to Hope held Hope Summit Saturday afternoon for a theatre full of people.

Held downtown at the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Galley stage, the venue was a close and intimate event where speakers and listeners could really get in tune with what was going on. It also helped with what the speakers were talking about.

"When I cry, and its a smaller event like this, you know its okay," Wanda Campbell explained. "I feel okay, I don't get all nervous about it. I know that they are here to listen and they're here to know what I am talking about and if I cry its okay."

Campbell spoke of her son, Lane Antosh, and how he died in an accident East of Regina on Highway 1. This is the first time she has spoken to a crowd about grief before. Prior to this, she was working hard to try and make the intersection where her son died safer. At Hope Summit, her goal was to help people replace that grief with love.

"The speakers that come they put their stories of recovery on blast basically and they're so honest and raw and it's not easy to do," Nicole Hebert said. "They spend months and they create relationships with the other speakers but also mentors, we got wonderful mentors. They get to know our team."

Hebert is a volunteer with Hope Summit, and what she explained was shown during the summit. Not only were the speakers and volunteer supportive of each other, but the audience also helping out. At one point, when Campbell started choking up during her presentation, they encouraged to be a "rock star," like she joked about in the opening of her presentation.

That was the kind of atmosphere that was created in a small theatre with an open and supportive crowd. The kind of place where you could take your time, reflect, and learn.

"Going up in front of a bunch of people you don't know, based on my experience in life, I was judged a lot throughout my life," another presenter, Kalem Moses said. "So, to be able to overcome that fear of being judged and just be able to give nothing but my raw heart to people is a very warming feeling."

The Hope Summit presenters hitting their "rock star" pose.

Moses was another amazing speaker at the event. He struggled with addiction in his early life, now, he speaks of how he overcomes it and how he now helps other addicts. He's actually been making music also, and the message he sends out with it got him the chance to open for Classified in Regina later this month.

It's hard to portray what actually happened at Hope Summit 2018, but eventually, you can hear from the four speakers that took the stage on Saturday and hear their message. Keep checking the Hope Summit page for those videos.

Hope Summit will be back in 2020, and a possible youth event with a similar feeling could be coming in 2019.