"Hope with Ian was inspired because almost two years ago, we lost our beautiful boy, Ian, to mental health," said Lauri Strain, founder of Hope with Ian.
The local non-profit organization is hosting a fundraiser for mental health awareness at Four Lanterns Winery in Paso Robles on Saturday.
"The future with Hope with Ian is to end the stigma and to help make all of the people that are suffering in silence be made aware that it's okay, and it's okay that they are not okay," Strain said.
One year after her son, Ian, lost his life to mental health issues, Strain began her non-profit organization to raise awareness for those struggling with similar issues.
"There's not a lot of services here in our community and we went through a difficult time with our son starting in 2020," she shared. "He needed more, and we searched without very many answers, without very much support. It was very lonely and isolating and felt like we were going through this on our own."
Strain says that the dinner event is called Moonlight Sonata to honor one of Ian's favorite songs and to highlight a message of hope.
"After his passing, I did a little bit of research on that song, and the meaning behind it is that it does bring inner strength and inner awareness," she said. "The will to keep moving forward even through difficult times."
Tickets are still available for the event and proceeds will go toward training for people who help with suicide prevention.
"What we'd love to do with the money raised is get as many people in our community trained and certified through this program, because I think we can save a lot of lives," Strain said.
"I know he'd be very happy about this event. And I still feel him chuckling. I can hear him like laughing just because he knows how I am."
