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A southern Manitoba mom is helping coordinate a walk to bring awareness to mental health struggles and also bring her faith and community together.
"Sashbear Foundation is a program that has been created for families," says Marisol Pulido, a mom from Steinbach, MB, who is a volunteer with the Sashbear Foundation. "It offers a lifeline for families or friends of loved ones facing emotional challenges. Things like emotional dysregulation, substance use, depression, anxiety, self-injury, and suicidal ideation."
The Foundation started up after one family lost their loved one, 20-year-old Sasha, to suicide. It's based out of Toronto, but the foundation reaches families across Canada by having its resources available online for free.
"Her family decided to carry her legacy by helping other families," says Pulito. "That's what drove me to volunteer for Sashbear, but also they've helped my family."
Every month, the foundation puts out different themes and educational mental health materials. They also offer an eight-week course called 'Family Connections.'
"Our family just went through a lot with a loved one who suffers from anxiety and depression, and all sorts of things, including suicidal ideation. One night, coming back from the hospital from the psych ward, I was very desperate. I went on the web and started searching different tools and things that could help me understand what was going on. I was hopeless. That's when I found the name online. I joined the community, and that's when I realized I wasn't alone. That I didn't need to be ashamed of what was going on in my life."
Faith in Action
Pulito and her family also lean heavily on their faith to help carry them through difficult seasons.
"We always kept connected to our church community and friends who constantly prayed for us. There were some nights when I just went to sleep crying, and I couldn't even pray, but I knew there were people praying for me. I could feel God's presence. Some nights I would ask, 'God, where are you in all of this?'"
Taking her pain and grief from the constant battle with mental health, Pulito also decided to help others. She helped bring a mental health awareness walk through the Sashbear Foundation to Steinbach. It's the only walk from the foundation in Manitoba.
"When you're going through surgery, or you break a bone, everybody can see what you're going through. When there is mental health involved, there isn't a visual sign of what is going on. So it's hard for people to understand what you're going through. But when you are supported by a Christian community, people showed up through prayer and at home with coffee and meals. It was amazing. Our faith grew through that and our confidence that God was there."
The Sashbear Walk will be taking place on May 24, 2025, at K. R. Barkman Park in Steinbach.
"Every May, Sashbear has events all over Canada, called Sashbear Walk. They raise funds to support everything that is going on. So I organized a little neighbourhood walk last year, and to my surprise, we had 52 people showing up and raised over $3,000. I am blessed and humbled to see our community come together and support this."