A mental health advocate will speak across the region today in hopes of helping people learn to better cope with life's challenges.

Michelle Golebiowski is a public speaker from Winnipeg who lost both her parents, grandfather and best friend in an 18-month span. She now speaks about her experiences in coping with loss, and hopes others can learn from the approaches she's taken.

"While there's been a lot of progress reducing the stigma related to mental health, much more needs to be done," Golebiowski says in a statement. "While I'm not a health care professional, I feel there’s a huge value in raising awareness and pointing to professional help that is available. That's what I do."

"We're going to be walking through some of the life challenges I've experienced, and some of the coping strategies I've learned along the way," she continues. "Some of those are (what I call) the three 'Cs.' Those are communicating, coping and connecting."

Golebiowski speaks at MacGregor Elementary School this morning, then heads to Austin for another talk. She will be in Portage la Prairie at 7 p.m. to present at Canad Inns.

"I hope to engage people to reach out when they need help, and also remind some of the audience what they can do to reach out and what some of the resources are,” she adds.