A Minnesota speaker and author is walking 1,776 miles around the state of Minnesota to raise awareness
about youth mental health.
Jason Lennox began his journey in Stillwater on June 29 and says the goal is simple: start a conversation.
He’s been making stops in communities along the way, hearing stories of loss and recovery—and encouraging people to talk more openly about mental health.
1,776 miles sounds a little extreme. Lennox says the unusual number is intentional—designed to make people stop and ask a simple question:
“Why would somebody do this? Well, this is why, because we need to talk about this more.”
Lennox says his own experience with mental health challenges and substance use shaped the mission behind the trek.
“As a consumer, somebody who struggled with mental health and substances for a long, long time—a big part of what kept me sick, stopped me from getting help, almost killed me—is the fact that the world looked at this thing a certain kind of way and thought that it was pretty logical. Meaning, if you don’t want the trouble that you’re in, if you don’t want the suffering, the pain, then just do X, Y, and Z. Just don’t drink, or just don’t do the thing. And I believe that after a long time, that’s again what almost killed me.”
After getting into recovery and beginning to share his story publicly, Lennox says he saw people’s perspectives change.
“What I realized after I got on the other side, thankfully made it out alive and started speaking, especially in more public settings, was that when I told my story of the pain of all the things underlying the problems I was having, people started to look at this a lot differently. Meaning, people don’t make the judgments and have the perspectives they have about this because they want to think badly about people. They just don’t know any different.”
That, he says, convinced him that starting conversations could be part of the
solution.
Along the route, Lennox has spoken at community events that include presentations, local panels, question-and-answer sessions, and, of course, community walks.
However, he says some of the most meaningful moments haven’t been planned.
“You know, one little town finds out about this, the next thing you know, they’re trying to jump in, and they’re trying to offer housing, and they’re trying to offer a meal, and then they almost ping-pong us down the road to the next town.”
Lennox says he’s also heard from families dealing with the loss of loved ones in rural Minnesota. Lennox noticed grief surrounding youth mental health and suicide can sometimes go unspoken.
“People who’ve lost loved ones, sometimes one, sometimes four, they come to this thing, and they come with a couple things: gratitude and grief, and the gratitude for this work and what’s happening, and the grief for the loss that they’ve experienced, and so often in rural Minnesota, that grief is largely unspoken. Meaning, they make it very clear we don’t talk about this, and I’m just grateful that you created a space and a channel for me to actually share. This is what happened in my family.”
Besides starting conversations, the walk is also a fundraiser and a data-gathering project.
Lennox says Recovery Road Minnesota hopes to raise about $170,000. He says the money will support community and program-level mental health efforts.
The organization is also conducting a survey across all 87 Minnesota counties, collecting information about mental health services and access to care.
And the journey is being filmed for a future documentary.
Lennox says the goal is to combine that data with personal stories he’s hearing along the way.
“We can tell the story that we just—we’re not using someone else’s data, or we’re not coming up with the theory. We literally walked around this entire state to find what’s happening out here. Now, you know, elected officials, will you deny this now? Right. So that’s the kind of third pillar of this data collection gap report, policy work, to actually bring more funding because, yeah, we could raise $170,000. That’s such a small dent in the grand scheme of what needs to happen. We need that to come from our legislators, from our government at every level.”
Lennox and his team will be making a stop in Hastings on October 8th before continuing on to Afton and
then Stillwater for the finish line on October 10th, which is World Mental Health Day.
He hopes people will join him for the final mile and help turn the finish into a celebration and a chance to keep the conversation going.
However, for Lennox, the reason for the walk is ultimately personal.
“There’s a little girl named Kenzie Mae that was really at the core of this year’s walk and why we went with youth mental health. She was 11 years old. She died by suicide last year. The end of–the day after I returned from a 500-mile walk to honor people lost. It was really tragic. If you talk to our family, I promise you that they’ll tell you that they’d wish they were in this conversation sooner. And if you talk to enough people, there is enough regret. There’s enough ‘what ifs.’ There are enough ‘what could I’ve done differently’ that I think everybody would feel better, would understand more, would participate more if they truly understood the impact and what these people will suffer with for the rest of their lives.
Lennox says people don’t have to walk 1,776 miles to get involved.
He says starting a conversation with a friend, a family member, or someone in the community can be a place to begin.
“Again, the biggest thing that comes to mind when anyone asks me ‘why’ its conversation, and everybody can participate. And my key with people is to talk to folks in your community, talk to your loved ones. I mean, there’s nobody who doesn’t get touched by this.”
Lennox encourages people to follow the journey, learn about upcoming events, share their own stories, or support the fundraising effort at RecoveryRoadMN.com.
[Click the soundbite to listen to the report.]