By Sterling McGinn

A Lansing, Michigan native is walking 2,000 miles for mental health awareness and to help lift the stigma that surrounds mental illness.

Woody Ellis made his way through Newberry last week and stayed here for a couple of days.

Ellis has always wanted to explore the world and decided to embark on a walk for mental health awareness. He is raising funds for six different organizations that deal with mental health, ranging from schizophrenia to dementia to suicide prevention. He wants to raise $1,000 for each organization.

Ellis is no stranger to mental health issues; several of his family members struggle with mental health.

“Things are progressing with family members and family members of friends,” he said. “I was thinking of ways to help so I kind of combined the whole charity aspect with the adventuring aspect.”

Ellis started the journey on Labor Day in Mackinaw City with the annual Mackinac Bridge walk. From there, he traveled to Newberry and is now on his way to Grand Marais, Marquette, down to Escanaba, Green Bay. From there, he will work his way south. Ellis walks along highways and on some trails, pulling a walking cart that holds his supplies.

Ellis admits he’s always had an adventurous lifestyle.

“That has been my spirit and soul pretty much my whole life,” he said. In 2016, he was living in Chicago and began solo-traveling. He earned a scuba diving certification in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since then, he has worked in Hawaii, Japan, China, Thailand, and Taiwan.

Ellis currently has no particular final destination in mind, and he does not have a specific timeline in place to complete that walk, but his goal is 2,000 miles.

“I am deliberately being very open to experiencing the opportunities and the connections with people along the way,” he explained. “If there is an opportunity that presents itself, I don’t want to have to say I am on a strict schedule.”

During his journey, he has been and will continue to hammock camp, and looks for safe places to camp. So far, people have donated places to stay or have hosted him on their property.

“A lot of times, it has been motels, inns and bed and breakfasts,” Ellis said. The motel and hotel stays are often gifted to him. “The kindness I encountered along the way has been incredible,” he said.

Ellis enjoyed his stay in Newberry and was especially happy that our small town has a movie theater. “That is something I always look for when I travel—I like finding movie theatres; they are comfortable and make you feel like home when you are by yourself,” he said. “The people have been very friendly and welcoming.”

The six organizations he is walking for are vetted on Charity Navigator, and individuals can donate to the organization directly using his URL link. People can also donate funds for his walk.

“People can also join me on the trek, and the time they are with me we will focus on a charity of their choice,” he said. “That just is a good way to get other charities involved and while they are with me, I will take down the charities from my website and feature theirs exclusively.”

Anyone interested in following his walk can visit WoodyWalks.com or subscribe to his newsletter on the website. He will be posting videos and photos as he continues his walk.