Jackie has attended New Clubhouse Development Training in Fort Wayne, Indiana and has also visited Clubhouse in New York City.  Her background includes property management and administrative skills (BC Transit, Camosun College and BC Ministry of Agriculture). She volunteered at Victoria Women’s Transition House until her son’s illness required her time.

Claire is passionate about reducing stigma and increasing support for those experiencing mental health challenges. She has personally lost friends to mental health crises and has several people in her life who have been and continue to be impacted by mental health challenges.

Claire is currently self-employed in the technology sector as a senior consultant through her own company Ceascape Solutions Inc.; she is a passionate supporter of women (including transgender and non-binary) in STEAM. Claire is currently working towards her master’s degree in counseling psychology, with a focus on complex trauma and client-centered therapies for depression, anxiety, and burnout. Outside of work and studies, you’ll find her paddling her outrigger canoe, cold water dipping, on the hiking trails, and taking photographs. Claire is grateful to serve her community through Connections Place!

Neelam has worked in mental health for many years now, and through her lived experience with mental illness, she brings forth passion and joy for supporting others. She believes in the power of healing through connection and using humor to add lightness. Honoring relationships is the core part of her approach in life, through family, friends, work, and even those she has yet to meet!

Growing up as a South Asian woman has greatly informed her lens in life. She’s strongly connected to her roots in Punjabi culture, language, food, music, and approaches to health, and says she has much more yet to process and also explore. She loves to stay active, to read, and learn knew skills and ways of thinking. The Clubhouse model has opened so many doors for her in personal and professional domains, and she looks forward to many more years in this area of mental health.

Please feel free to reach out to Neelam at her email [email protected] if you have any questions or thoughts for her.

Originally hailing from California, Paige moved to BC in 2017 to complete her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology at Quest University. She has a diverse work and volunteer background, with experience working in the book publishing industry, in food and customer service, and with at-risk youth in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood. At Connections Place, Paige draws on her own journey towards mental wellness to connect with and support members. She is passionate about building community and loves learning from the folks she works with.

Leah has volunteered in the social services sector for almost thirty years. When COVID hit, she decided to take the plunge and go back to school to pursue her dream of giving back professionally. While enrolled in Camosun’s Mental Health and Addictions program, Leah was introduced to Connections Place through a practicum placement. The vision and values of the clubhouse were a natural fit for her and when an opportunity to join the team as part of an outreach pilot program came along, Leah excitedly jumped on board.

Diagnosed at a young age with anxiety and depression disorder, Alexandra knows firsthand what it’s like growing up in Victoria with mental health issues. She helps Connections Place with her experience and education from the University of Victoria, where she received a Bachelors in Anthropology. She currently works as an artist, while studying to assist people as a weight-management counsellor.

With a degree in Sociology at York University, ON, Cherry Lynn has worked as a social worker, school teacher, school aide, and was an owner/operator of a small business. She’s been a member of the Unitarian-Universalist community her entire life. Cherry Lynn embraces Buddhist philosophy, the guidance of reason and the results of science, and believes firmly in the inherent worth and dignity of all persons and social justice for everyone.

She served as a member for 4.5 years on the Victoria Mental Health and Substance Use Advisory Committee, and the BCSS Victoria Board of Directors. She co-founded our society in March 2014, and has worked in this important grassroots advocacy initiative toward the establishment of a Clubhouse International in the GVA since that time.

Cherry Lynn looks forward to the day when the community at large opens their hearts with compassion and understanding, and then supports the need for this program to nurture people who are suffering from mental health problems of all types. Cherry Lynn looks after her 25-year-old son, who lives with her.

Through Sandy’s long-time career as a Realtor, she’s had the good fortune to meet and work with people from all walks of life. As a compassionate community minded individual, she’s encountered many families struggling with mental illness. As she gets to know these families, she’s been astounded to learn how difficult a task it is to try to find ways to help their loved ones, who are suffering and whose futures seem so bleak.

Sandy and her family have their own personal experience spanning over many years with a beloved sister, who suffers relentless pain since being injured in a car accident, with a multitude of complex issues that have developed since. For that reason, she knows first-hand how daunting this task is. Sandy strives to be of service to Connections Place to bring about brighter and healthier futures for many people and their families.