I'm raising funds for mental health!

Join me in supporting CMHA with a donation. Because one in five Canadians will experience a mental health issue in any given year. But five in five - all of us - have mental health. And we all need to take care of it.

Hello, my name is Lori Haggerty and I am a 54 year old grandmother, who is hoping to raise funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association and Women's shelters across Canada by walking from Vancouver,BC to St. John’s,NL. I see these charities as two sides of the same coin, both are essential in ending domestic violence. I am walking in memory of my sister, Patricia Kucerovsky, who was murdered in Fredericton N.B. in 2008. Patty’s murder had a deep and lasting impact on the mental health of her loved ones. 

In December of 2020 I was in a serious car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I had been in the midst of applying for the social work program at St Thomas University. The accident had a very negative effect on my mental health because the plans I had been making were no longer feasible. Short term memory loss, vertigo, migraines made life difficult as I struggled just to walk and talk normally.  I have come a long way since the accident and plan to cover 30km/day when I begin my journey on April 2nd. 

My philosophy has always been that if we can take the bad things that happen to us and use the experience to do good then we know we are healed. My physiotherapist says that big feelings require big movements, so I see my big walk as a necessity for my own healing and mental well being.

Sadly, the number of women murdered in Canada and the incidents of domestic abuse have risen since the pandemic, a trend that needs to be reversed. As I start the estimated 250 day journey and do what seems impossible, I hope to encourage those being abused to do what they think is impossible and just walk away from their abuser and seek support. I hope to encourage abuser to just walk away and find help too. 

A woman is killed every six days in Canada by their intimate partner. Violence in the home takes its tole on the whole family and children who witness violence have double the rate of psychiatric disorders.  44% of Canadian women report experiencing some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. This means that statistically you know someone effected by domestic violence.  

Please help me make a difference by making a donation. Everyone deserves a safe place to live.