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Lori Yeager is taking action to end mental health stigma.
In 2018, Yeager She started “The Hope for BEST” after losing one of her three brothers, Dan Best, to suicide in 2018.
“The first couple of months were a blur, because you’re trying to wrap your head around something you can’t wrap your head around,” said Yeager, of Avon.
She says she endured many sleepless nights and her thoughts in the shadows of the night turned into words on paper, which turned into poetry.
In the year Since that fateful moment in 2018, she says she’s written more than 100 poems, half of which are about “all the way…. They are found in the book titled “Just Speak”.
And, she has become an advocate for destigmatizing mental health through “The Hope for BEST.”
“(The book) is a book of all kinds of poetry that I started writing,” Yeager said.
Among the topics covered in the book are bullying, addiction and other challenges people face but are too afraid to bring up, she said.
This year, Yeager said she is incorporating a 1-mile K-9 walk into the community to help get the word out.
The first walk begins and ends at the Canning Family K-9 Park, 3701 Veterans Memorial Parkway in Avon.
The walk will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 16 and will benefit mental health awareness programs at local schools.
Yeager wrote in her book, “In every way…. Just Say It” also benefits mental health programs in schools.
She said she wants to pilot this K-9 walk with the city.
Avon Mayor Brian Jensen and Avon Local School District Superintendent Ben Hodge were instrumental in making this walk possible, Yeager said.
Hodge said he supports what Yeager is doing with mental health awareness.
“Participating in a mental (health) awareness event for our community and school is another great opportunity to promote education and resources to everyone,” he said.
“I hope this will be the first (walk) of many to come,” Yeager said.
Mayor Brian Jensen thinks this is a great opportunity to talk about mental health.
“The city of Avon always wants to support events like this by bringing Lori (mental illness) forward and making something positive out of a terrible situation,” Jensen said.
She said the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will be there along with other sponsors.
Yeager’s goal is mostly to hike in the surrounding area.
“Woe is me, and I can go down the ‘I’m the victim’ rabbit hole and live the rest of my life that way, or I can take the tragedy and turn it into purpose,” she said. .
Yeager said she chose the path of purpose and helping America’s youth is her biggest goal right now because she wants to help young people struggling with mental illness.
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