Ontarians came together to GET LOUD for Mental Health Week (May 2-8). More than 70 landmarks and buildings were illuminated in green across the province to provide the public with significant visual reminders that last week was Mental Health Week. Some significant landmarks that went green included the Peace Bridge, Niagara Falls, City halls in Toronto, Burlington, Hamilton and Guelph, and campus buildings at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, Centennial College and Mohawk College.
Nearly 40 buildings participated in the illumination initiative in the Hamilton area alone, thanks to championing of the initiative by Ted Michaels, host of the award-winning Wellness Wednesdays series on AM900 CHML.
Numerous organizations across the province also shared photos on social media of their team wearing green during the week to raise mental health awareness and encourage others to ‘get loud’ and talk openly about mental health.
In fact, participation was so high on social media that the hashtags #GETLOUD, #MHW2016 and #MentalHealthWeek all trended nationwide on Twitter on Monday. Tweets using those hashtags reached more than 15 million Canadians throughout the week.
The full list of participating landmarks and organizations is available on CMHA Ontario’s website. Photos shared of the initiative are now available on CMHA Ontario’s Facebook page.
With one in five children, youth and adults affected by mental health issues, the goal of Mental Health Week is to engage communities and individuals across Ontario to increase understanding of mental health issues, end discrimination and spread the message that help is available.