‘There’s people that care’: Sandpoint woman works with skier Drew Peterson to bring mental health film to town

Professional skier and director Drew Peterson is coming to Sandpoint to show a short film called Feel It All and talk about mental health.

The event was organized by Justine Murray, who owns La Chic Boutique in Sandpoint. She has a passion for events that center around mental health, because she’s watched people struggle with theirs up close.

Her son, Ethan Murray, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early adulthood. Seven years later, he died after being shot by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy. Ethan Murray was unarmed and was in a mental health crisis at the time of his death.

His parents, Murray and Mark Jentsch, filed a federal civil rights suit on behalf of their son’s estate in U.S. District Court in Spokane, alleging that the deputy who killed their son violated his constitutional rights and the sheriff’s office provided inadequate training for dealing with mental health issues. They received $1 million in the lawsuit settlement.

Murray and her husband, Matt Connery, started a foundation in 2021 called the Ethan Murray Fund to help local young adults pay attention and care for their mental health .

“It’s just my path now,” Murray said. “I’m very open when people want to talk to me about mental health.”

That passion is something that Peterson noticed while he worked with Murray in preparation for his film screening.

“Her passion is why I’m doing this event and why I’m so excited to contribute to bringing this impact to Sandpoint,” Peterson said.

The Panida Theatre will host the film screening and a conversation on mental health at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets are $12 if purchased in advance and $15 if purchased at the door.

The foundation provides therapy and college scholarships to locals in need. Events like this film screening fund those scholarships, Murray said.

“We’re a small grassroots organization,” she said.

The Tim Prummer Foundation, Brain Blossom Center, Center of Sandpoint, Walk for Hope, Underground Kindness, 7B Boardshop and Cultivation Counseling and Schweitzer Mountain Resort are all sponsors of the film screening, said Murray.

Peterson, a professional skier and mental health advocate, made the film about his journey to running Leadville, a 100-mile race in Colorado. The film shows Peterson skiing and running those trails, all while talking about his personal struggles with suicidal ideation.

“Sandpoint epitomizes much of the community and reality facing the Mountain West, and the hope for this event is to offer an opportunity to do just that, together, as a community,” Peterson said. “Sharing my story in a real, vulnerable manner opens the space for others to see that they’re not alone and have space for vulnerability.”

While in town, Peterson will also speak to two classes at Sandpoint High School and show his film. He says the solution to shifting a person’s mental health starts with talking about it.

“Every day, someone is struggling and may need help. They need to know they’re not alone,” Murray said.

Therapy scholarships are provided to locals who need therapy, but don’t have the funds to go every week, she said.

“We work through local therapists and see if they have room for another patient,” Murray explained.

College scholarships are often given to high school seniors who plan to study psychology or have either had mental health struggles personally or in their family. Last year, the foundation gave out $16,000 to high school seniors in partnership with the Tim Prummer Foundation.

Film screening aside, Murray says there’s just one thing she wants people to know.

“There’s people that care.”