MONTREAL – If life gives you lemons, Patrik Laine and his fiancée, Jordan Leigh, decided to start a lemonade stand so people can make lemonade together.
It’s not an actual lemonade stand, mind you; rather, the couple have embarked on a new mission to try and make a difference in the lives of people struggling with their mental health.
In August, Laine and Leigh announced on social media that they were launching From Us to You, an online initiative on Instagram enabling people to open up about their issues and build community by sharing in a safe space.
Laine credits Leigh with the initial idea, and the pair felt motivated to turn it into reality after seeing the way people responded to the Finn opening up about his own struggles.
“We kind of said that in the introduction video that the amount of messages and stories and everything we’ve received just by me saying something is kind of cool and overwhelming a little bit,” shared Laine. “It was super nice to see that people want to open up and we felt like there wasn’t anyone who was doing exactly what we were doing right now. We figured, how we could we get people talking about this more?”
One reason some people aren’t talking more is because of difficulty accessing services. According to Mental Health Research Canada, just over half of people struggling with their mental health aren’t getting the help they need in this country.
From Us to You, on the other hand, is accessible to most everyone: all you need to get involved is your smartphone. The idea is for people to share what they’ve gone through – and how they’ve coped – via this online community in the hopes that it will help others realize they aren’t alone.
“I don’t know how the therapy systems and everything works in North America. I guess it’s not really available for everyone, it’s pretty expensive, and we wanted to come up with something,” explained the 6-foot-4 forward. “Most of us have a phone and have apps and accounts available and you can just follow and hopefully get something that will help you from other people that has helped them.”
Laine has seen first-hand how speaking out can have an impact on others. This past January, while still a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and cited his mental health as part of the reason.
“I’ve learned the more you open up, then [the more] people want to open up to you. That’s definitely something I’ve noticed the more I’ve talked about this. Obviously publicly, I feel like people want to open up to you and kind of tell you [their] story,” outlined Laine, who has 204 goals and 388 points in 480 career games with the Winnipeg Jets and Blue Jackets. “As a public figure, a lot of people see that and then even if they don’t want to open up to me, but they want to open up to their people, their friends, their spouses, that’s awesome. If I can use my own voice and my own story to help other people like that, it feels pretty good, not going to lie.”
