Seventeen members of the public were honoured in Saskatoon Wednesday night for their completion of the first ever Mental Health and Addiction Peer Support Program.
This program allows people with lived experience of mental health challenges to learn skills to support others with similar challenges.
Organizer Tracey Mitchell says there is a lot of potential for the program to be a beneficial add-on for other mental health recovery programs.
“We believe people will have an increase in hope by seeing that people who have gone through the same things and have gone on to live happy and fulfilling lives,” says Mitchell.
She says this is only the beginning and the program has the potential to grow from here.
Program graduate Mandy Chen says she has overcome her own struggles and it was time to give back.
She says everyone needs support when battling mental illness.
“It is essential for people to get back on their feet because they have someone who can accompany them and be with them on this hard journey,” says Chen.
Program organizers say this is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan, but was based on successful programs from other provinces.