Pedersen Recovery Inc.

By: Darcie Khounnoraj Kipling Citizen "The conflict is that so many people will show up and listen to you speak about the Roughriders, they all yell and scream and go crazy and that's good, but the recovery/mental health aspect isn't as sexy or glamorous so it's a quieter group, yet you're having a bigger impact," Rod Pedersen, known as the Voice of the Riders, shared in Kipling, SK this month how he uses his voice to help those with addictions and mental illness versus the play-by-play commentary. "The only problem that I have is that I wish more people would speak up because addictions and mental health affect everybody in some way but nobody wants to talk about it." Rod Pedersen kept the target audience up to date across Saskatchewan for 30 years with the play-by-play commentary for sports fans. Visiting the Kipling community, Pedersen presented his story to more than 120 people at the Kipling Community Centre on Sunday, March 31 sponsor...

By: Mathew Liebenberg Swift Current Prairie Post  Sober Coach and Mental Health advocate Rod Pedersen hopes his personal journey of battling with alcoholism can make a difference to help others to find a way to recovery. The Drug Strategy Action Committee in Swift Current hosted two events where the former voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders shared his story. A community presentation took place during an evening event at Walker Place on April 7 and he spoke to Grade 9-12 students at Swift Current Comprehensive High School the following morning. “I don’t find it difficult at all,” he said after his first presentation. “From the moment I gave my first speech about getting sober. You heard it, I lived 25 years in shame and guilt and I’m not going to live the next 25 that way. So if it helps somebody along the way I’m going to do it.” He struggled with anxiety since a young age, but he only realized he was suffering from mental illness after he began his recovery. He di...

With Health Minister Jim Reiter From CBC.ca: Saskatchewan's government is putting $30 million more toward mental health and addictions in 2019-20. About half of that money — $13.7 million — is going toward North Battleford's new Saskatchewan Hospital, which offers long term psychiatric rehabilitation. The federal government has also contributed $6.25 million, bringing the Ministry of Health's total dollars for mental health and addictions to $402 million in 2019-20. "We just think we need to do better on the whole mental health front and this is, I would say, a huge step forward," Health Minister Jim Reiter said. He said the budget includes "the largest commitment ever to mental health services in our province." Reiter highlighted more beds, extra staff and new mental health clinics as some of the province's key areas of spending. The province has also sectioned off $1 million for harm reduction initiatives. The government outline...