MEDICINE HAT, AB – Early on as Brandon Niwa’s family mourned his loss last spring, the family knew they wanted to keep his memory alive and make impactful change.
They donated $100,000 to Medicine Hat College in honour of Brandon, affectionately known as Beej.
The donation led to the creation of The Beej Project, a video series featuring familiar, grassroots professionals discussing mental health issues and supports.
“The topics have been amazing the feedback has been great from people in the community so we just have nothing but gratitude from everyone involved,” says Brandon’s sister Lindsay.
Topics covered include understanding body image and eating disorders, and mental health and crisis situations.
The series launched in late January and a new video is added every two weeks. Lindsay says the series has far exceeded the family’s expectations.
The four episodes released so far have been viewed nearly 40,000 times.
The number of views is a statistic, but Lindsay says there have also been real-world impacts.
“One of the most sort of impactful comments that I heard has been that someone said conversations around their dinner table as a family have changed and that’s literally the goal,” she says. “We want parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, literally anyone and everyone to have an opportunity to learn and take little nuggets from each video and apply them to your life, to your family, yourself.”
She says women reached out to her following the episode about eating disorders and says the series has shown people that no matter what they’re struggling with, they’re not alone.
Lindsay also points out the videos are free to everyone and hopes they will reach many more people for many years to come.
The series is spearheaded by a community advisory committee which includes the college, Medicine Hat Public School Division, Prairie Rose Public Schools, Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education and Medicine Hat Police.
It’s set to end in June, but Lindsay says the family will take direction from the advisory committee on any potential extension that could benefit the community.
“If you’ve grown up in Medicine Hat or you’ve lived here a long time you know that the beauty of this city is the community and that it really comes together to make change happen,” she says. “It’s not systems, it’s the people in our community and this community has been very good to our family, very good to our family business and this is just a great way to give back.”
If you or someone you know is struggling, there are supports available.
The Alberta Mental Health Help Line can be reached at 1-877-303-2642.
In the case of an emergency dial 911.
For more support from mental health visit the AHS website.
