January is a time to be joyful

By Joan Janzen

The month of January announces the end of the festive holiday season, along with shortened daylight hours and colder temperatures. It’s also a great month to attend the upcoming More Joy Regina event.

Christalee Froese is the founder of the More Joy Movement, which will be hosting their sixth annual More Joy event at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina on Wednesday evening, January 28. The evening will be filled with opportunities to help people pursue a journey to better mental health.

Christalee Froese is the founder of the More Joy Movement, designed to change the focus from mental illness to joyful well-being. The More Joy Regina event is taking place Wednesday evening, January 28th. Christalee is pictured (left) with a therapy dog team at More Joy Regina.

Christalee has experienced her own struggles, which resulted in her sharing her personal journey of recovering from a mental breakdown in her first book, “Journey to Joy,” published in 2018. This book, along with her newly published second book, “Permission Granted to be Joyful Again,” will be available at the event.

Hosting this unique annual event was Christalee’s answer to the increasing mental health struggles she has seen in Saskatchewan. Everything about the event is designed to change the focus from mental illness to joyful well-being.

Her first More Joy Regina event, held in 2019, was attended by 400 people. “As mental health issues continue to grow, so does our audience,” the award-winning journalist observed. “We see families come as a unit, bringing both younger people, as well as older adults. We also see friends bringing friends and co-workers, which is a great way to open up the mental health conversation.”

A great deal of conversation takes place as the attendees check out the various booths throughout the evening. The Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Canadian Mental Health Association provide information on support groups, day programs, information lines, grief counselling, Nar-Anon and Al-Anon, and more.

St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs also has a booth at the event, and Bright Eyes Dog Rescue supplies rescued puppies in their puppy room.

“Our attendees get comfort from the puppies supplied,” Christalee said. “Last year, one puppy was adopted by a young couple who later made the dog part of their wedding ceremony.” They credit their rescue dog with helping them get through some difficult mental health challenges. Ryan and Karlee Duret will be telling their story at More Joy Regina and are bringing “Maddie the rescue dog” to the puppy room.

Another helpful tool is funded by Do More Ag. Twenty-five people signed up for their mental health first aid course, which provides skills for people to help those in difficult mental health situations.

Guest speaker Brit Dort is a Canadian sports reporter for TSN, who will be speaking about her own personal road to recovery. Psychiatrist Omasade Ogundare is also a speaker for the evening, and country musician JJ Voss portrays some of his struggles in his songs. The closing act is provided by Rider cheerleader Lily Kary, performing a dance to get the crowd involved and energized.

Anyone interested in attending More Joy Regina can register at morejoy.ca from January 27th for $45 or at the door for $55.

The More Joy Movement does not receive government funding. Funds raised from More Joy Regina are donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association and to cover counselling fees for those without work programs.