Our meaningful conversation about the stigma that men face when confronting mental illness helped us raise over $173,000.

While this was my (eighth?) year hosting the St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation “St. Joe’s Plate by the Lake”, the keynote guest, DillanPonders, made this year unique.

He spoke passionately about his own story and his journey to take extreme measures to ensure other men, and the people around them, break down the barriers about responding to mental health and creating safe spaces for all to heal, thrive, and help others.

You can find him on social media (DillanPonders – all one word). He’s now an Ultra runner as well as an accomplished hip/hop recording artist and author.

You can find crucial resources at St. Joe’s in Toronto’s West End if you or someone you know is living with a mental health challenge, and especially if they have been hesitant to get support because it’s historically “not what real men do”. As DillanPonders wrote, men can find self-compassion through a balance of “courage” and “care”.

The St. Joe’s Plate sponsors, volunteers, and attendees have raised over $3M to expand the facilities and care strategies in our community.