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WAYVE Conference draws crowd to Victoria Park

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High school and middle school students from across Waterloo Region gathered at the Victoria Park Pavilion for WAYVE’s 2018 Conference, Healthy Minds & Healthy Hearts.

Students shared reasons to be thankful on a Gratitude Wall and heard from speakers about the importance of supporting one another, the benefits of mindfulness, believing in oneself, and recovery from mental illness.

Hanging out at our WAYVE conference #wayveday pic.twitter.com/BR3Dx2hHjQ

— WAYVE (@WAYVE_WR) February 15, 2018

Martin Bauman, a communications specialist with CMHA WW, shared his story of cycling across Canada to raise funds for mental health, and the things he learned from meeting people along the way. Kari Kokko, a clinical coordinator with CMHA WW, led students through an exercise in mindfulness, learning to recognize the thoughts that crossed their minds at any given moment. WAYVE’s Brianna Buchanan told her story of living with diabetes and choosing to live life without limits. Rob deBoyrie captured students’ interest with his story of living with schizophrenia, and the benefits he’s found from gardening.

A few shots from our @WAYVE_WR 2018 Conference. Looking forward to the next one! #WayveDay pic.twitter.com/zrb2cUeynT

— CMHA WW (@CMHAWW) February 23, 2018

Since 2001, WAYVE has empowered youth to become advocates for mental health and social justice issues, raising awareness about bullying, racism, homophobia, and relationship abuse. WAYVE operates on the firm belief that youth need to be involved in the solution to addressing youth issues, because they are the ones directly involved. The program provides teens with the opportunity to make decisions, delegate, mentor, and motivate others, creating and developing leaders of tomorrow.

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