Members of Forward House have many opportunities to participate in a wide variety of educational, vocational, and psycho-social, and recreational programs.

Our staff members provide on-going encouragement and support for each individual in meeting life's daily challenges. One way to strengthen our members is for us to provide access to education - in the widest sense of its meaning. Mutual respect is the cornerstone of our being and our interactions.

Our numerous programs and services are continually changing, of course, improving - accepting the input of member clients and volunteers. New ideas abound - all the while, expanding the horizons of everyone involved at Forward House.

To obtain a more complete picture of our many programs, both in-house and community-based, please visit our other pages. Some highlights include...

Driftwood Media

Education at Forward House

The Other Hand Studio

We provide a wide variety of educational programs, offerings, and opportunities. Everyone learns and everyone grows, individually, and as a community.

To assist with our growth, members have the opportunity to contribute to our newsletter publication, which is intended to enhance a feeling of ownership in the program as well as to enlighten the community about our many programs and services.

As an example of the variety and creativity of the services and programs that we offer, we list the following:

Barter Store: Our in-house barter store is for the Forward house Community members. It is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

Arts: We believe that art is meant to be both a learning experience and to be enjoyable. We explore various media to awaken the senses and sew, paint and sculpt to create the masterpieces that speak of who we are. We also make items to see to raise funds for the materials we use, so that we can continue to create. We make beanie bags, peanut pillows, greeting cards, puppets, and more.

Art Therapy: Our Art Therapist, Mehdi Naimi, offers classes in a safe and comfortable setting to all our members every Friday evening.

Video Production: Our video expert, Norm Bergkvist, directs the activities and productions of the films we develop and produce at Forward House. Through this mechanism, and under Norm's watchful eye, we offer our local community the opportunity to partner with us in making our place in the world a most special one.

Education:

(1) Certificate Courses: Our many ongoing courses are facilitated by our staff members and/or co-facilitated by local graduate students. These courses promote the study of meaningful relationships, individual and group conflict resolution, trust, grieving, assertiveness, personal responsibility, drug and food safety.

(2) Partners in Education (PIE): In this program, a panel of community group volunteers, as well as our owm members, address mental health issues from the point of view of their own experience. We find that this practice leads to individual empowerment and fosters community education. We include, upon request, screenings of our feature film, and our short film series that we have produced.

(3) The Forward House Way: A video documentary and a CD highlighting the activities and spirit of Forward House.

Books We've Produced:

"There and Back Again" and "Self-Portrait are books of personal stories contributed by our client-partners.

"Paths to Wellness" is a resource directory compiled by our client-partners. It includes descriptions of various mental health issues and coping strategies.

"The Forward House Way" is a CD of music written performed by a client-partner. It captures the spirit of Forward House.

For more information about Books or Videos, please contact Carol Richardson by phone or email.

Phone: 250-954-0785

Email: education@forwardhouse.com (Attention: Carol Richardson)

Videos We've Produced:

"Demystifying Mental Illness" is a VHS video documentary produced by Forward House members in collaboration with film maker Richard Boyce (Island Bound Media Works). It highlights activitiers and the spirit of Forward House (Only $19.00 Cdn).

"First Contact Video Series". This film was created by our won video production team in collaboration with film maker Norm Bergkvist. It is for inter-agency use, schools, and public television viewing. Its highlights include interviews with those who live, and triumph, in the face illness. (24 to 30 minutes, on DVD. Order your copies for only $50.00 each, or the entire set of 5 for $225.00 Cdn. Non-profit and Student discournts of 50% are available.)

For more information about any of the above programs, to book an educational panel, or investigate the making of a video for your family or business, please contact our staff member Theresa Baldwin by phone or email. Also visit our Education and other pages.

Phone: 250-954-0785

Email:education@forwardhouse.com