Upcoming Tom’s Walk Aims to Promote Mental Health Awareness in Devon

Tom's Walk For Mental Health poster (Photo Credits - Tom's Walk)

Community members in the town of Devon will gather for Tom’s Walk for Mental Health at the Devon Voyageur Park on May 26th.

The walk’s focus is to raise awareness of mental health resources, provide a safe space for those who are suffering and for those who are trying to support them. We are also holding space for those who have lost someone to their mental illness and provide an opportunity at the The Memory Wall to speak their name and provide a way to remember how our loved ones lived, rather than be defined by how they died.

Kelly Maxwell, organizer of Tom’s Walk for Mental Health spoke with CFWE on her excitement, along with seeing the growth of the community that participate within the walk since it’s inception in 2018 with many spreading the message on mental health awareness and creating a safe space for many.

Maxwell speaks on the significance behind Tom’s Walk, and how she turned an event of sorrow into a day of hope. Since then, the walk educates on the importance of mental and physical health, and the importance of addressing those areas with one another in the community.

Maxwell speaks on her late son’s artwork displayed on the green and white t-shirts that are given to those that participate in the walk, along with the many local businesses that have donated towards the event, with over $3,000 dollars raised this year, and many participating in the walk from across Canada outside of the town of Devon.

Maxwell adds that Tom would be dancing from seeing many taking the day of sadness and creating a day of making connection and celebration with one another.

Maxwell speaks on the creation on ‘The Memory Wall’, a space for those who want to speak the name of their lost loved one and how they remembered them.

Maxwell hopes that participants will take away knowing that their is support for everyone experiencing the hardships of mental health, and that no one is ever alone with finding joy with one another throughout the journey of life.