Written by Brenden Harris on Wednesday, 04 June 2014

people leisa miness jun072013CMHA Executive Director Leisa Miness

The Portage la Prairie Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association has set their plans for Clara Hughes' arrival in the city. During Tuesday's rotary meeting, Executive Director Leisa Miness discussed some of the things that will be happening during the June 13th event.

"What's going to happen is she's going to come into town and we're going to have a huge gala fundraiser supper for her. She's going to be the keynote speaker. We'll have other guests throughout the evening, Rachel Ashley's going to be there singing her hit song 'I Know'. We're also having a silent auction, door prizes and Bell is doing lots of giveaways. It's going to be a fun-filled evening."

She says on top of being a great evening to learn more about mental health, the event also marks an important step to reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness.

"I think when people see that there's someone out there like Clara talking about mental health and reducing stigma, it's going to open up that door to sort of say 'Yes, it's okay to talk about, I'm not alone and I can get help'."

Miness adds that it's important for the community as a whole to take steps to recognizes mental illness, due to the amount of Canadians that will experience mental health challenges in their lives.

"It's always important when you're trying raise awareness around mental illness and mental health, and decrease stigma as well. You need to remember that one in four Canadians will suffer from a mental health issue at some point in their lifetime, so this impacts many, many people."

The stigma around mental health issues and awareness has been one of the issues the Canadian Mental Health Association has been working to address. While Miness says there has been progress in the fight, there's still more that needs to be done.

"I think we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but I think we're definitely in the right direction. We're definitely getting there and people are listening. This community is very caring, very open and very responsive."

Hughes will be arriving in Portage during the Clara's Big Ride event on June 13th, with the event beginning at 6:00 in the evening.