ARRIVAL LOUNGE
A LIFELINE OF HOPE
Pratheep Charles is a YouthSpeaker and a marketing strategist for YouthSpeak.
By PRATHEEP CHARLES
Mental Health Awareness Month is observed across Canada every May to reduce stigma, educate the public, and promote mental wellness.
YouthSpeak is a mental health charity that hires young people who have overcome trauma (addiction, bullying, depression) to share their stories in schools. Instead of adults lecturing kids, they bring youth to encourage kids to speak up and ask for help.
Pratheep Charles, who is a YouthSpeaker and the Marketing Strategist for the organization, shares his story to bring hope to others.
“My journey with YouthSpeak Charity didn’t begin in a boardroom or a marketing meeting. It began in the quiet, heavy aftermath of a loss that changed everything.
“I am an alumnus of McMaster University and currently serve as the Marketing Strategist for YouthSpeak. But before the titles, I was a young man navigating a ‘ripple effect’ of depression and loneliness. In 2021, while I was still in university, my mother took her own life. As a South Asian male, I found myself standing at a difficult crossroads. In our community, topics like depression and mental health are often tucked away, kept far from the dinner table. There is an unspoken expectation to ‘just deal with it,’ to tuck your pain under the rug and walk into the world with a stoic smile.
“I knew that smile was a mask, and I knew I wanted to change the conversation for the next generation.
“A year after my mother’s passing, I sat in my bedroom, searching for a path forward. A seed had been planted months earlier by a friend and former board member who told me, ‘One day, when you’re ready, you should share your story’.
“In April 2022, I finally felt ready.
“I was terrified. Like so many others, the thought of public speaking turned my stomach into knots and made my hands sweat. But deep down, a quiet voice told me that my story was the very thing I had needed to hear when I felt most alone. I took the leap and applied to be a Youth Speaker.
“With the mentorship of our founder, Una Wright, who started YouthSpeak over 21 years ago after the tragic loss of her own two sons, I found my voice. I began sharing not just my journey with grief, but my experiences with bullying and the ‘wake-up call’ of a health scare during the pandemic.
“What I fell in love with at YouthSpeak was our holistic heartbeat. We don’t just speak to youth; we speak to the ecosystems around them. We connect with parents and caregivers to help them build the safe spaces I wish had been more common in my own upbringing. We share our lived experiences in schools, community groups, and after-school programs from Ontario to Indigenous communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“Our goal is simple but profound: to provide a lifeline of hope so that every youth knows they belong and that they are loved.
“My role has evolved alongside my healing. I started as a speaker, moved into facilitation, and naturally gravitated toward the Marketing Committee. I wanted to use my professional background to ensure our message reached every corner of the country.
It’s about sharing lived experiences so youth know they are not alone.
“Today, as a Marketing Strategist, I treat our mission like a movement. Whether I’m collaborating with our Creative Lead on a new line of YouthSpeak merch or architecting a digital strategy to reach a kid scrolling for hope in a remote town, I am driven by the same ‘click’ of purpose I felt in my bedroom years ago. We are no longer just a grassroots charity; we are a national pulse, working to make mental health support as accessible as the air we breathe.
“People often ask me why I’ve dedicated my career to this. The truth is, YouthSpeak owns a piece of my heart. I believe that sometimes the most painful chapters of our lives are written so we can help others finish their books.
“I don’t see myself ever leaving this mission. I am here to ensure that the youth of tomorrow don’t just ‘get by’. I want them to walk into the world – not with a mask, but with the tools to live lives that are loud, resilient, and deeply meaningful.”
• More on how YouthSpeak can help empower youth to build resilience, hope, and coping strategies in challenging times at youthspeak.ca.
• If you’d like to share the story of your arrival in Canada, please write to desinews@rogers.com or call 416-695-4357.