DetailsWritten by Sylvia St. Cyr Published: 15 July 2020

One man is starting off a 90 Day walking journey with police escort and anyone who will join him, all to raise awareness for youth mental health in Canada.

The Hope in the DarknessNational Walk for Youth Mental Health 2020 begins today, starting at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg and will go for 90 days until Kevin Redsky reaches Vancouver, B.C.

Redsky is the founder of Hope in the Darkness as well as an Anishinaabe police sergeant. He has had a career in community policing for over 17 years and is from the Shoal Lake Forty First Nation.

He says, ""Today we're launching the walk from the Canadian Human Rights Museum. It's a continuation really from 2018 when we had our National walk for youth mental health. It was our mindset that we were going to challenge police officers to give our youth a voice considering the youth crisis in our country."

On April 1, 2018, Redsky walked the other half of Canada, starting his journey in Cape Spear, St. John's, Newfoundland and walked for four months until he reached WInnipeg.

"A number of officers for 125 days walked and met here at the Human Rights museum August 5, 2018. Here we are, 2020, personally it's a goal for me to complete the walk."

Today's walk starts at 10:30 am at the museum, continues west down Portage Ave. until the check point at the University of Winnipeg, where it will then continue up to the perimeter. Anyone interested in supporting Redsky through walking can join in part or the whole for the first day.

Aconversation between a child and their parents is resulting in a Winnipeg man facing charges from the Winnipeg Police Service.

"We're going to be challenging community leaderships with all the issues; the missing murdered, Indigenous women and girls, the opiod crisis, human trafficking, and racism." says Redsky.

"What really inspired the whole thing is that my niece, [who] we lost to suicide in 2013. She was actually in the child welfare system here in Winnipeg and that's why Winnipeg is so important."

For such an arduous feat, there will be moments where quitting looks like the best option, as Redsky knows from the was in 2018.

"In Newfoundland, 21 days into the journey, I thought that was it. I was quitting, but there was some inspiration that day. From that day on I knew I had to complete it." Shares Redsky. The same purpose will hopefully carry him through this time.

"My physical pain is nothing compared to what our youth are going through when it comes to their pain."

In 2018, Redsky walked 40 km a day. Different locations offered free lodging for him throughout the journey, as well as water. He lost 33 lbs during that walk from the constant movement.

This time, to keep old injuries at bay, he will be walking 30 km a day and resting each Sunday for the first eight weeks. He doesn't know exactly where he'll sleep or eat throughout this journey. He will be escorted by local police whenever possible.

"An officer of the Manitoba Police Service is going to help me for the first two weeks up to the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border. Then people will rotate in, perhaps do one month at a time."

His schedule of where he is walking is on their website and Redsky encourages people to join him on short portions of the walk when they can.

"On the highways I'm mainly alone, but we encourage gatherings within municiple areas."

With COVID guidelines, Redsky will also be offering virtual sessions along the way.

"We'll notify communities ahead of time, you're welcome to join us, get a group together, and let's walk and talk mental health."

On the left, Mitchell Boulette participated in the Hope in the Darkness walk in 2018

A friend of Redsky, Mitchell Boulette with the Treaty three Police Service, walked the opposite route Redsky will venture, back in 2018 when he walked from Lake Louise, B.C., all the way to Winnipeg where he met Redsky.

"He was having trouble finding officers to take over that part of the walk. I agreed to come on for a week to help him while he looked for somebody else. I went for eight days and walked from Lake Louise to just outside of Calgary. He couldn't find someone so I took an unpaid leave of absence from work to go and finish the walk." Says Boulette.

Due to the magnitude of this walk and the awareness it brings, Boulette was given a pleasant surprise.

"Part way through the end of the walk, my service thanked me for what I was doing and my unpaid leave of absence ended up being a paid leave."

This walk is quite personal for Boulette.

"I had a family member who took his life, I have nieces that are struggling with depression. Being a police officer since 2004, I see a lot of suicides in communities and it's something that has impacted me. I went through some PTSD and almost took my own life, so it's something that hit home for me."

It was a family ordeal as Boulette's brothers joined him for different portions of the walk.

"The walk was very spiritual, emotional, and amazing. I was glad to be apart of it." Shares Boulette.

CHVN's Sylvia St.Cyr (left) with WPS Inspector Bonnie Emerson right) at the kick off for the Hope in the Darkness event

Bonnie Emerson is the WPS Inspector of the community support division. She along with a team of Winnipeg Police Service were at the send off, as well as cadets and RCMP.

As for an event like this, Emerson says, "It means community. The times in everybody's world is so turbulent and anxiety-inducing in a whole variety of ways. But the police community are the people and the people are the police community."

Many police officers arrive when things are the hardest, but an initiative like Hope in the Darkness brings a proactive stance to suicide and mental health of the country's youth. Police have their role to play.

"Having police officers across the country stand behind the need and importance of this initiative, as well as make ourselves available to have the conversations with youth, sometimes uncomfortable, I think the importance cannot be understated and I hope that there are more ways going forward to engage in a positive way."

Emerson says this initiative is "Proactive in the sense that it's raising awareness and building community."

This walk is looking to promote a message of hope and empowerment for youth. It is also a national mental health initiative for the wellbeing, strong identities, and healthy lives ofyoung people struggling.

Redsky hopes to be finished his walk on October 12, 2020, bringing even more help to those youth in need.

See the article here:

Kick-off of "Hope in the Darkness" 90-day walk from Winnipeg to Vancouver - CHVN Radio