ANN ARBOR, MI - This year’s Yoga at the Big House event will have a specific focus on promoting mental health, benefiting a local organization that helps young adults facing mental health challenges.
The event, which takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, will raise funds for Garrett’s Space, a nonprofit addressing gaps in treatment for young adults experiencing distress due to mental health issues.
Around 1,200 yoga enthusiasts are expected to be in attendance for the event. Tickets are $18 and availability is limited. They can be purchased online.
The session is hosted by Kacee Must, the founder of Citizen Yoga Studio, who took over Yoga at the Big House a couple of years ago, providing more of a mental health focus on the event. The event is sponsored by Somerset Collection and Bank of Ann Arbor.
“Everything that we do as a whole company is based in suicide prevention,” said Must, who lost her sister, Miya, to suicide in 2007. “The whole theme for this year is transforming I into we and realizing that mental health is deeply tied to a person’s sense of belong and feeling a part of a community.”
Must aims to bring awareness to mental health through her business. She thought it would be ideal to pair up with Garrett’s Space, which was established by Julie and Scott Halpert after their son, Garrett, died by suicide in September 2017 at the age of 23, providing 25 percent of the proceeds to the nonprofit.
Julie Halpert said Garrett’s Space is beginning to take off, with Yoga at the Big House serving as a way to increase awareness of the organization that set up a fund with The University of Michigan Depression Center.
Volunteers from Garrett’s Space have been canvassing the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti communities this summer providing fliers with vital information on mental health resources for people in crisis.
The nonprofit is dedicated to establishing a residential treatment center in Washtenaw County for young adults experiencing mental health challenges. The nonprofit currently plans to establish interim programming like yoga and peer-to-peer support in other spaces.
Halpert is excited for the opportunity to spread awareness about mental health and access to resources.
“We both have something significant in common: the loss of an immediate family member to suicide and the interest in preventing this tragedy from happening to others,” Halpert said. “... This is the first program for Garrett’s Space, and it is important to us to begin to help those in our community who are struggling as soon as we can.”