Upcoming Meetings:

1. For residents of Langdale – community information session

The meeting will be held on Saturday November 20, 2010

Time: 3 – 4:30 pm

Location: Gibsons Area Community Centre Room 209

700 Park Rd., Gibsons, B.C.

November 27th, 2010 at the Chan Centre 7 p.m.

“From Shadow to Light 2”, will be a combination of speakers, uplifting song, Irish Dance, and a spectacular newly commissioned dance choreographed by Astrid Sherman ,and performed by her students of the Pro Arte Dance School. This ground–breaking work is accompanied by the vibrant and passionate music of Karl Jenkins’ popular “Adiemus”, sung by a massed choir of 100 voices.

The music invokes the driving rhythms of Celtic music, and the power of African music, drawing together many cultures into one experience.

The Dance expresses the experience of a young woman, on the brink of adulthood, who gradually starts to become alienated from her family, her peers, and even herself. We watch her as she suffers the exquisite agony of alienation, psychosis, hospitalization, and her struggles as she tries to re-integrate herself back into a society that seems barred to her. However, she is strong, and determined, and people reach out to her. Friends keep drawing her back in, she finds the treatment and recovery support that she needs, and eventually, we witness her courage to reclaim her own recovery and life.

As an audience, we are drawn in to the experience which so often we choose not to see. It is all too easy to ignore those who cannot make themselves heard in our society where accomplishment and status are often the standards by which we judge others.

This event is designed to open our hearts, to see, and support those who are among the most vulnerable in our society.

We are honored to have Ric Mathews, the minister of 1st United Church, speak about his work in the downtown core of Vancouver.

Saturday November 27, 2010 at 7 p.m.
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver BC

For ticket information please call the Chan box office: 604.822-9197 or
Ticketmaster 604.280.3311 or www.ticketmaster.ca

Tickets: $27.50 plus service charge

It is with immense gratitude that I share good news about our vision to make Cottage Farm a reality. Since our “coming out” concert in May 2009, we have been blessed with the generosity and passion of many remarkable individuals and organizations who see that therapeutic communities are a vital step in providing continuum of care for some of the most vulnerable and wonderful people in our society.

WE HAVE PROPERTY !!
The first person who must be mentioned is Wolfgang Duntz, a family man, a lover of community, and a developer who believes that his gifts with business are to be used for the betterment of society. In October 2009, Wolfgang purchased for Cottage Farm Society 58 acres of beautiful arable land on the Sunshine coast. He also committed to fronting enough of the costs of facilities that we can approach major funding and housing organizations to partner with Cottage Farm. Thank you Wolfgang!

WORKING IN COMMITTEES
Without a doubt, we would not be where we are now without the visionary support of Vancouver Coastal Health region and Heather Hay – Director of the Regional Complex Concurrent Disorder Program, Vancouver Coastal Health, who has lent us the enormous skill of Susann Richter, our project manager. With her time and expertise, along with our committed board of directors, and Wolfgang, we have now developed: a Program Development committee, a Spiritual Advisory committee, a Marketing and Communications committee, a Legal and Managerial team, a Facilities and Land Use committee. And a knowledgeable and experienced Fundraising Committee is currently being developed. These committees all consist of people who are both experts in their own field, and share a passion for creating a loving, home-like, mini-village where people who have such enormous potential are given the tools they need to embark upon their unique journey of Recovery.

SOME OF OUR TASKS
There are many tasks for us, from developing the structure of the organization to designing our facilities; from planning the program for clients and staff, to building preliminary relationships with those groups, individuals, and organizations who are involved or will be involved with Cottage Farm. It is an exciting and awe-inspiring task, and in the words of Barrie Forbes, our amazing Chairman,“it is rather like being strapped onto a rocket, and hanging on for dear life!”

VISITING THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES IN THE U.S.
I leave you with some of the inspirational pictures which Susann, Barrie and I took, when on a trip to visit four therapeutic communities in the States. Cooper-Riis, in Northern Carolina, Hundred Acres Ranch in Vermont, Windhorse, and the grandfather of American Residential Therapeutic Communities in North America, Gould Farm. A huge thank you to the clients, staff and directors of every one of these inspiring communities who made time to freely share with us their expertise, communities, and passion for healing.

THANK YOU ALL!!!!
And finally, to the many of you who have contributed to Cottage farm, receipts will be arriving in time for tax time, and thank you so much for your continuing support and passion for making Canada a better place to treat those who are challenged with serious mental illness. We plan to share more news and developments in the near future, so please stay in touch with us at http://cottagefarm.ca.

In Gratitude,
Alison Nixon

Cottage Farm Brochure (PDF)

Download the brochure and let others know about the project.

View Cottage Farm Brochure in PDF format.

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Information for the Community

Community Info Sheet – Oct.-2010

Lost in Transition – report by Vancouver Police Dept. (PDF)

This report is a quantitative analysis of the Vancouver Police Department’s calls for service that involve mentally ill persons, the significant factors that lead to these incidents, and the consequences for mentally ill people who come in contact with the police.

View Lost in Transition in PDF format.