Over the course of fourteen events, held between September 2023 and May 2024, more than 130 community members came together to share their stories through zine-making. These sessions took place at various times of day and across different locations in the city to ensure accessibility and inclusivity. The zines, which were small, handmade booklets, were provided to participants with a creative space to express their experiences with mental health, addictions, and the systems meant to support them. Across the fourteen events, participants created a total of 122 zines.

This initiative was co-led with community members, people with lived and living experience, and cross-sector mental health providers. The goal of the zine-making events was to better understand and transform responses to mental health and addictions across the London-Middlesex region. The zines were compiled into a collection that highlights the six most urgent gaps in the current system and identifies opportunities for improvement. These gaps include: housing and homelessness instability; lack of resources for substance use and addictions; limited service coordination and system navigation; being denied services for being “too well” or “too ill”; lack of interim and proactive approaches to care; and a lack of compassion and humanity from care providers.

Attached below is the full zine collection, created by youth and assembled by our lived-experience advisor, Tandra Lepine.