On May 7th, 2023, the Step Above Stigma team hosted its first Candid Conversations Coffee House downtown Toronto at the Cecil Community Centre.
There’s nothing more important to Step Above Stigma than creating a space where people can come together to share their stories around mental health.
We believe that sharing these stories will help destigmatize conversations around mental health trauma and struggle, as well as encourage people to learn more about how mental health is intersectional.
Our community is full of people who have faced their own struggles with mental health and want to help others through the process of healing and understanding. And while we are always looking for new ways to support our community, we know that storytelling is often the best way for people to truly learn and connect with one another.
That’s why we created our Candid Conversations Coffee House. Our coffee house was a 3.5-hour event where the public was invited to join us for free for a cup of coffee or tea and some yummy appetizers, participate in our silent auction and have lots of great conversation.
We had 12 diverse speakers, which included Ampai Thammachack, Hailey Rodgers, Jonathan Friedman, Jessica Takimoto, Lauren Urie, Angelica Galluzzo, Noah Tile, Benji Arhern, Samara Lijiam, Flavia Chackery, Natalie Wallace, and De-Mario Knowles.
We would like to thank Royale, our Presenting Sponsor. Royale and its parent company J.D. Irving, Limited, are proud community supporters of organizations across Canada, including those that advocate for youth mental health, and we are proud that we could be one of them! Their support made a massive difference in our ability to build community and spread our message of empowerment, and break mental health stigma.
