The 2026 Signs of Hope Walk is about coming together as a community to raise awareness, share hope, and support the important message that mental health matters, recovery is possible, and no one should face life’s struggles alone.
Whether you are walking, fundraising, volunteering, cheering others on, or simply showing up in support, you are an important part of this event.
More event details including the Event Schedule; Event Awards; Policies; How to Fundraise; and other resources can be found one the Kennebec Behavioral Health website by visiting: https://www.kbhmaine.org/community/signs-of-hope-walk/.
Interested in fundraising?
Watch this brief video that explains how you can get started today!
Why we walk
On a bright May morning, hundreds of footsteps will join together on the Kennebec River Rail Trail–different people, different stories, one shared purpose. This is the Signs of Hope Walk, returning after several years with renewed energy and a powerful reminder that even in our hardest chapters, hope can still take the lead.
Together, children, families, neighbors, staff, and local partners step forward not just to complete a 5K walk, but to carry something much greater: the message that mental health matters, recovery is possible, and no one should ever face their struggles alone.
For more than 65 years, Kennebec Behavioral Health has been that lifeline—offering counseling, crisis response, school-based telehealth, substance use prevention, peer support, psychiatry, residential care, and so much more. Much of this work is funded, but not all of it. Every day, our teams go above and beyond grant limitations, insurance barriers, and reimbursement gaps to meet people where they are, when they need it most.
Some needs can’t wait for a contract.
Some crises don’t fit neatly inside a budget line.
Some opportunities for innovation must be seized in the moment to keep people safe, supported, and connected.
That’s why we walk.
This year, we have set a bold goal: $25,000. These dollars directly support the unfunded and underfunded work that keeps hope alive in our communities:
- A teen who needs immediate crisis stabilization but is underinsured.
- A parent in recovery who finds strength in peer support groups that aren’t reimbursable but change lives.
- A school without a counselor, where a KBH telehealth clinician becomes a lifeline for a struggling student.
- A family navigating their child’s “big emotions,” finding understanding and guidance through prevention and early-intervention programs that rarely receive adequate funding.
- A person at risk of overdose who receives naloxone, risk-reduction support, and a chance to choose recovery.
These moments of hope are not optional—they are essential. And your footsteps help make them possible.
When you join the Signs of Hope Walk, you’re walking for someone who needs to know that their community believes in them. You’re walking for neighbors you may never meet but whose lives will be changed because you chose to care. You’re walking for a future where mental health support is not the exception, but the expectation.
Hope is not passive.
Hope moves.
Hope shows up.
Hope walks.
This May, we invite you to walk beside us—to raise awareness, to raise your voice, and to help us raise $25,000 so KBH can continue offering life-changing support to every person who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay.
Together, we can turn small steps into lasting change.
Together, we can fill our community with Signs of Hope.
