Local organization tackles open dialogue on mental health
Posted Nov 16, 2016 07:34:39 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Dialogue Xchange is an organization in our region that is looking to open the floor to difficult conversation topics.
The difficult topic on the table for tonight is trying to break the stigma on mental health, with up to 15 mental health pioneers and policy-makers scheduled to be in attendance.
Trishalla Pillai co-founded Dialogue Xchange this January, and says she is shocked and excited at how quickly it continues to grow.
“It’s been like a whirlwind and a rollercoaster,” says Pillai. “We’ve been receiving a lot of national and international requests to start dialogues on a range of topics.”
Even the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario has expressed interest in having Indigenous Peoples talks across Ontario.
Dialogue Xchange has also received government endorsements and other honours in under a year since its inception.
“Our mission over all is to really just build stronger and more resilient communities that work together to take ownership for the social challenges they face within their own communities,” says Pillai. “And we do this using powerful and inclusive conversations as an enabler for social change.”
She adds that once they branch out more, they hope to discover the issues that plague each region and focus those talks around their specific issues.
“In Waterloo we found that the top five issues people face here are youth unemployment, homelessness, mental health, rape culture and mental health. So now we are targeting those particular topics and creating dialogues on them.”
Their meeting tonight to discuss mental health is free and will be held at the Shopify Plus at 57 Erb Street West in Waterloo, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
If you’re interested in finding out more you can check out their event page on Facebook.
