Jenepher Reynolds hopes to help others after trying in vain to come to her troubled brother’s aid.
Reynolds lost her brother, Hugh Reynolds, one-and-a-half years ago. Hugh was drinking or on drugs, perhaps both, when he banged his head and fell into frigid water.
He suffered hypothermia and head injuries. He was on life support for one week before family made the difficult decision to end the man’s life – a life that had long been wrought with turmoil.
Hugh struggled with mental health issues, as he did with alcohol and drugs. A number of times, Jenepher adds, Hugh threatened to end his life.
“He was just really tortured,’’ she says.
“He would go into detox, come out and crash again… I thought with Hugh it was like one step forward, two steps back.’’
The loss of Hugh, one of six siblings, weighs heavily on Jenepher. She tried to help her brother – as did others – but without any great success.
Now she hopes to help others who, like her brother did for so long, struggle with addiction and mental health challenges.
Reynolds, a fitness instructor at GoodLife Fitness in Charlottetown, is organizing a fundraiser for Lennon House, a yet-to-open temporary home which will promote recovery and improving the lives of those living with addictions and co-occurring mental health disorders.
“It was just sort of feeling guilty and helpless and wanting to do something,’’ she explains of the motivation behind holding a fundraiser.
The fitness fundraiser, she adds, is fitting because exercise has “such a positive impact on mental health.”
Called Move It for Mental Health, the event will run Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Stratford Town Hall.
The day will consist of classes of varying lengths running throughout the day with everything from yoga to boot camp. Instructors from a number of gyms are volunteering. There will also be massage therapists providing mini massages. To learn more about the event, call Jenepher at 902-940-3992.
All proceeds from the fundraiser will support Lennon House, which was founded by Dianne Young and named in memory of her son, Lennon, who died by suicide in 2013 after being long-tormented by schizophrenia and drug addiction.
The facility is in the former Belcourt Retreat Centre in North Rustico.
The fitness fundraiser is the latest in many initiatives that have been undertaken to raise money to get Lennon House up and running.
It has been tough slogging since the Lennon Recovery House Association was incorporated in March 2017, but Young is determined to make her dream a reality.
Her goal, she says, is to save lives.
“If there was a house like this when Lennon was alive, he may still be alive,’’ she says.
Young is grateful to all the people like Reynolds that have been stepping up to raise money for Lennon House. The province has also provided funding, but more money is needed to complete renovations, hire staff, and cover operating expenses.
“If we had the (required) funding available to us, we could open very soon,’’ says Young.
“We do need the province’s help.’’
