An Okotoks resident is reminding everyone to “live a life that matters.” That’s the slogan on a line of t-shirts Robin Spooner has designed in honour of her sister, Krista Karch, who died in October 2015 at age 40 after suffering for years with mental health issues and addiction. “She passed away due to complications of years and years of basically abuse of her body from the side effects of addiction,” said Spooner. “It’s sad. She was doing quite well. She was in a good place and she was stable, but there was just too much damage to her body over time.” Karch struggled with mental health and borderline personality disorder, which led to substance abuse and addiction from the age of 15, said Spooner. She had received support and help from various organizations in Calgary, primarily Alpha House – an agency offering shelter, detox, outreach and housing. Spooner remembers her sister as being smart, with a heart of gold, and always putting others before herself – even when she had nothing and was on the street, Karch did everything to help anyone she could, she said. When she died, Spooner spoke at her sister’s funeral. “I spoke about how my sister lived a life that mattered, even with all her struggles and challenges,” she said. “The day she died, I promised I would do the same. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do that, but…” She decided to start an awareness and fundraising campaign in Karch’s honour, to bring more attention to mental health and support the foundations that had helped her sister through her struggle. That’s when the idea to sell t-shirts was born. Each shirt reads, “Live a Life that Matters,” with a symbol in the centre that represents Karch’s initials: K.K. Shirts are sold all over the world, and 100 per cent of the proceeds from each sale are donated to Alpha House, she said – though some funds were also given to Resolve Calgary, which helped build the new women’s supportive living building at Alpha House. To-date, Spooner has donated $1,500 to Resolve Calgary and $1,000 to Alpha House, and anticipates an additional $1,000 for the shelter in the coming weeks. It’s important to give back to the organization, she said. “They helped her find stable housing, they helped her in any way she needed, and in doing so it took a lot of the pressure off of me and my parents, and helped us basically just be able to love Krista and be there for Krista, and not necessarily try to be her social worker and case manager and all that stuff,” said Spooner. The t-shirts launched in December, and so far more than 400 have been sold. It’s an overwhelming response to the campaign, she said. “It’s been unbelievable,” said Spooner. “The support of friends and family, complete strangers, people just reaching out to me and sharing their stories – even people who you do know or thought you knew.” Everybody has been touched in some way by mental illness, whether affected themselves or seeing a loved one, friend, neighbour, or colleague struggle, she said. It’s important to remind people that it’s okay to talk about mental health, she said. That’s what the t-shirts are for. “There’s still so much stigma around it and I think it’s more fear of talking about it,” said Spooner. “I think people are still embarrassed and ashamed, which they shouldn’t be. It’s nice to get the word out there and let people know you shouldn’t be ashamed about talking about it.” Besides raising awareness in the community, both locally and globally, Spooner said the t-shirts are also part of her sister’s legacy. “It’s keeping her spirit alive,” she said. Spooner said nobody should have to suffer the same fate as her sister, and it’s important to support the agencies that are assisting those who face mental health and addiction issues. “These people deserve love, they deserve kindness, they deserve compassion – they’re no different than you and I,” said Spooner. “It could be a neighbour struggling, it could be a family member, it could be the person who you walk by sitting on the bench downtown Calgary. It doesn’t discriminate, so we shouldn’t.” Live a Life that Matters t-shirts sell for $35 and can be ordered by sending a message through Instagram to @live_a_life_that_matters or by email at [email protected].
