The Citizen, 2018-05-10, Page 33THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018. PAGE 33.
Landsberg reaches 1,400 with Huron County visit
A nightcap
Long-time sportscaster Michael Landsberg has pivoted his focus in recent years to discuss
mental illness across the country after he realized he was going through depression. His Sick
Not Weak charity, which he created with his daughter, aims to educate the public on mental
illness and explaining that it's a sickness, just like any other disease, and not a weakness. He
spoke to nearly 1,000 students in Exeter before making his way to Blyth Cowbell Brewing
Company for a special dinner engagement for 85 people, followed by the final event of the
night, a speaking engagement at Blyth's Memorial Hall in front of nearly 300 people. The event
was emceed by radio personality Phil Main, left. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Long-time sports broadcaster and
mental health awareness advocate
Michael Landsberg spent May 3
speaking to over 1,400 Huron
County residents and he says it was
time well spent.
Landsberg was brought to Huron
County by the Tanner Steffler
Foundation, a newly -formed
foundation with the goal of
improving mental health and
addiction services for the youth of
Huron County.
The foundation was created by
John and Heather Steffler when their
19 -year-old son, Tanner, overdosed
on drugs after a years -long battle
with mental health issues and
addiction.
Landsberg was first in Exeter
speaking to nearly 1,000 students at
South Huron District High School
before coming to Blyth where he
was the star of an intimate dinner
and lecture at Blyth Cowbell
Brewing Company, followed by a
speaking engagement at Memorial
Hall, which was nearly sold out.
In an exclusive interview with The
Citizen, Landsberg said that when he
was first contacted by the Stefflers
he was immediately intrigued by
what they were trying to accomplish
in Huron County.
As someone who has travelled
extensively speaking on mental
health, Landsberg said that Huron
County, unfortunately, is not alone
in lacking mental health and
addiction resources.
"I think Huron County would be
identical to virtually every county
this size in this country," Landsberg
said. "The same issues exist
everywhere. One asset a small
Sick Not Weak
Michael Landsberg, who spent decades as a sportscaster
in Ontario, is now touring the country to help raise
awareness of mental illness. Landsberg was in Exeter last
Thursday before two engagements that night in Blyth.
(Shawn Loughlin photo)
community has is the sense of
community where you can hopefully
engender a spirit in a community
that's hopefully a safe place for
mental health. You can't do that in a
big city."
Landsberg reiterated this point
during his speech at Memorial Hall.
He said that having a sense of
community can be an excellent
jumping-off point for mental health
awareness.
When he speaks in larger city
centres like Toronto, he said, he's
not speaking to community. Rather,
he said, he's speaking to a number of
people who happen to live in the
same area, but there isn't the same
sense of community that can be
found in smaller towns like Blyth or
Seaforth.
Landsberg said that all three of his
Huron County events last week were
encouraging, but he was most
impressed by the engagement he
saw when at the high school.
"I felt like I learned a lot. For me it
was time really well spent,"
Landsberg said. "You have to pick
and choose where you go to speak
on this subject and it needs to be
time well spent and it was. I loved it.
I found the level of openness and
honesty of the students in the crowd
was unlike anything I'd ever seen"
Steffler agreed. In an interview
with The Citizen, he said that
Landsberg spoke to the students for
an hour, but he stayed for an
additional 90 minutes answering
questions and engaging in dialogue
with the students.
He said that while the two Blyth
events were fantastic, he also found
the Exeter event to be the most
encouraging. With the foundation's
focus on those aged 12 to 24,
engaging 1,000 students within that
age bracket is exactly what Steffler
hoped the foundation would be
capable of doing.
Steffler said that the process of
bringing Landsberg to Huron
County began last fall when the
foundation contacted Landsberg and
asked if he'd be interested. He had
seen Landsberg speak and felt that
his goals aligned perfectly with what
the foundation was trying to
accomplish.
After realizing he was depressed
and subsequently seeking help,
Landsberg began to speak publicly
about mental health awareness more
and more. He and his daughter have
since started the Sick Not Weak
charity that seeks to end the stigma
that mental illness is a weakness in a
person, rather than a sickness just
like any other physical disease or
condition.
As Landsberg has transitioned out
of sports broadcasting and has made
speaking on mental illness his full-
time job, he said he feels like he
does more for the world in one day
now than he did in his whole career
on television.
"It's like nothing I've ever done in
my life. There's just a sense of
usefulness as a human being,"
Landsberg said. "Now, all of a
sudden, I find that I can show up at a
place like this, do what I enjoy doing
and now I get to put it to a good use
that's different from anything else
that I've ever done."
He said that putting his
broadcasting and public speaking
skills to work as an advocate for
mental health awareness hasn't been
a difficult transition. He's using the
same skills, he said, but he's dealing
with new subject matter.
"Now, I get to take all the skills
that I've learned, that I've studied,
that I've benefited from and my
experiences and now I get to use
them speaking on stage, so it's not a
big leap," he said. "The subject
matter, more than anything is me.
I'm sharing my own life experiences
and the more I share, the more open
I am, the more candid I am, the more
effective I am."
Steffler agreed and felt that the
casual and raw approach Landsberg
takes to mental health issues would
be a perfect way to get the message
across in Huron County.
Landsberg doesn't speak as an
expert on mental health or on the
clinical side of things, Steffler said,
he can only speak about his
experiences and encourage others to
be open and honest about theirs.
Steffler said that by bringing
Landsberg to Huron County, he was
able to reach over 1,400 people and
speak to them about various aspects
of mental health. If Landsberg's
three seminars were able to
enlighten those people, or at least get
them thinking about mental health in
a new way, the impact on the
community in just eight hours is
massive, he said.
Both Steffler and Landsberg
agreed that removing the stigma
from the way people think of mental
health is the first step in creating a
better environment for those affected
by mental illness. Until then,
Landsberg said, nothing can
improve.
At Memorial Hall, he spoke to
those in attendance about the stigma,
saying that while most people would
consider themselves sympathetic to
mental health, everything after the
word "but" in a person's statement
represents the stigma of which he
speaks.
If a person says that he knows a
co-worker is suffering from mental
illness, but then adds the word "but"
to the statement, everything after
that word is the stigma that people
like Landsberg and Steffler are
endeavouring to fight.
Steffler said that the foundation is
working with area schools and
organizations like Rural Response
for Healthy Children and Choices
for Change in order to ensure the
proper support is in place in area
schools and hospitals. While nothing
has been finalized yet, that work is
underway, Steffler said, and it's just
the beginning of the change they're
hoping to see in Huron County.
"We're going to continue to fight
for the youth of Huron County,"
Steffler said.
For more information on
Landsberg's Sick Not Weak charity,
visit sicknotweak.com and for more
information on the Tanner Steffler
Foundation, look it up on Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram or visit
tannersteftlerfoundation.com.
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