Taking Steps Forward for Youth Mental Health

Taking Steps Forward for Youth Mental Health

When Jonathan first participated in the RBC Race for the Kids in 2013 he couldn’t have imagined the impact it would have on his life several years later. The RBC Race for the Kids introduced him to Sunnybrook’s Family Navigation Project (FNP), which provided crucial support for Jonathan and his parents in dealing with his mental health and addiction challenges.

During his first year at university, Jonathan’s mom used FNP to help find the right resources to help him. A diagnosis of ADHD, generalized anxiety and depression, coupled with medication meant for the first time, Jonathan had answers. “When I was diagnosed, the biggest realization was that this was what [life] was supposed to feel like—a very calming sensation,” he says. “It was a real light-bulb moment that was life changing.”

A couple of years later following a family meeting where Jonathan owned up to his addiction, his mom reached out to FNP again to find a rehabilitation program. After a nine-week inpatient program, Jonathan credits the program recommended by his FNP navigator with completely changing his life. “I learned so much about myself and I’m coming up on nearly 20 months of sobriety,” he says.

It was during this time that Jonathan became passionate about mental health, learning all he could to help high school-aged youth better understand themselves. “There’s not only a lot of value for someone with lived experience, but there is also a lot of value in hearing from people who are the same age as you.”

When his mother passed along FNP’s monthly newsletter, which included a callout for Youth Advisory Council (YAC) members, Jonathan knew he wanted to be involved.

My entire goal of joining YAC is to continue to bring awareness to mental health and talking about it in any public setting,” says Jonathan. “Teenagers should understand that how you feel, your mental health, is a part of your physical health and you really can’t have one without the other.”

A decade after he first participated in the RBC Race for the Kids, and nearly two years of sobriety, this year’s race will have even more meaning for Johnathan because of his personal experience with FNP: “It is a big full circle moment for me,” he shares. And he wants everyone who is participating to know the positive impact FNP continues to have on his life and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the RBC Race for the Kids.

Register today at RBCRacefortheKids.ca and start fundraising to give youth with mental health challenges and addictions, and their families much needed support.