'The need has never been greater': Saskatoon woman walking a million steps for mental health

Francis Sreedhar has lived in Saskatoon her entire life and says she has always used the space surrounding the South Saskatchewan River.

“I've walked the trails and explored the trails even before they were trails when I was a little kid,” she said.

Now she uses them as an escape during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I have just found that this really helps with stress reduction, and with my own mental well-being, and it's something that I can do physically every day that helps me to feel like I'm accomplishing something and I have a bit of a goal and a purpose.”

Now for the second consecutive year, Sreedhar says she’s teamed up with the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Meewasin Valley Authority to raise money and awareness for mental health, by walking a million steps in a year.

“Through the pandemic, I think we all started to have some difficulties with feeling stressed, with feeling anxious, with feeling low and depressive.”

Executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Saskatoon branch Faith Bodnar says what Sreedhar is doing is inspiring.

“The need has never been greater. Five times as many people reached out to us during the first year of the pandemic than before, and these were people who'd never reached out for mental health support in their lives.”

Sreedhar says she has almost hit her goal and hopes to raise $10,000, or one cent for every step she takes, with the funds going to both the CMHA and Meewasin Valley Authority.

The other goal is to normalize the fact that many people across the province and the country are struggling with their mental health.

“There is a profound connection between mental health and putting a little bit of daily activity or daily routine in,” she said.

“If someone can even do five minutes, that can boost a mood, that can actually start to shift things just a little bit so that we feel like we're accomplishing, and then from there we can work upward towards another goal.”