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Our hearts are a door to everything. . .
By Kathleen
A Door To Everything Society
and West Coast Wishes
Artisan Collective
A Door To Everything Society is a group of women that came together just over two years ago, concerned about the addiction issues young people face with drugs and alcohol nowadays.
On the board of the Society are Jayne De’Ath, Linda Marshall, Kim VanSickle and me, Kathleen Willis.
What we found was the more we met as a circle to discuss our own issues, along with a forgiving attitude, the more our purpose as a Society became apparent. [Read more…]
Meeting Rose Hamilton
from SOS Children’s Village, BC
Thank you Rose Hamilton, centre in the green sweater, for your very informative talk about SOS Children’s Village, their history, and what it’s like to be a foster child in British Columbia today.
Thank you, also, to Karen McKee of Warm Buddy for the adorable warm-up polar bears that are going to the foster youth at SOS along with the Christmas stockings the students of John Volken Academy made.
Happy Christmas Everyone!
Wreath-making & Spa Day
for John Volken Academy Students
at West Coast Wishes Artisan Collective
and Shear Bliss Hair Studios
with A Door To Everything Society
West Coast Wishes Artisan Collective, #120- 1425 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, BC
November 25th, 2018, West Coast Wishes Artisan Collective, Shear Bliss Hair Studio and A Door To Everything Society welcomed the female students of John Volken Academy for a day of wreath-making, haircuts and nail-care.
Christmas Stockings
for SOS Children’s Village
made by John Volken Academy Students
John Volken Academy students with hand-made Christmas stockings.
The idea for the Christmas stockings came from Rose Hamilton, Director of Community Partnerships & Donor Stewardship for SOS Children’s Village, British Columbia.
Teaching Sewing
at John Volken Academy
A Door To Everything Society was so thankful to discover the therapeutic community in Surrey that John Volken (former owner of United Furniture Warehouse) has created for drug and alcohol recovery for young people.
Meeting the students at John Volken Academy has been a delight
and teaching them sewing has been amazing!
With much gratitude to Ingeborg from Bowen Island,
the students now have an industrial sewing machine to work on.
Thank you, Ingeborg!
Spa Day for Students
from John Volken Academy —
West Coast Wishes Artisan Collective
Shear Bliss Hair Studios
& A Door To Everything Society
West Coast Wishes, artisan collective, 120-1425 Marine Drive, West Vancouver
A Door To Everything Society in collaboration West Coast Wishes Artisan Collective, 120-1425 Marine Drive and Shear Bliss Hair Studios, 155-1425 Marine Drive in Ambleside, West Vancouver provided a fun day of hair cuts and manicures for the female students from John Volken Academy, August 12th, 2018.
Shear Bliss Hair Studios, 155-1425 Marine Drive in Ambleside, West Vancouver
West Coast Wishes,
Artisan Colletive in Ambleside,
West Vancouver!
West Coast Wishes is an exciting new venture created by Linda Marshall, board member of A Door To Everything Society and long-time event planner, formerly of Whistler. This new venue is in the heart of Ambleside at 120-1425 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Linda offers wedding and celebration planning, decor rentals, balloon installations and welcomes inquiries for custom decor & floral designs to suit any party or corporate event.
West Coast Wishes is also an amazing gathering place
for local artisans to showcase, market their wares.
John Volken Academy:
Therapeutic Community
for Drug and Alcohol Addiction
In 2014, John Volken, founder of the John Volken Academy was awarded the Dalai Lama Humanitarian Award in recognition of his outstanding work creating three therapeutic communities for drug and alcohol addiction recovery.
He has constructed academies in Surrey, BC, Canada, in Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona with his own wealth.
Each academy has conjoined work environments for the participants to have on-the-job training.
Recently, A Door To Everything Society had the honour of touring the John Volken Academy in Surrey, BC, as well as the 60,000-square-foot work environment for the students, Price Pro, a retail outlet selling groceries, household goods, and furniture.
We were really impressed with the incredible dedication and care that has gone into this academy for ones who are struggling with issues of addiction.
The Compassion Road:
Depression, Suicide and Hope
Lately and not so lately, well-known people who we call celebrities, are committing suicide. . .
As one who has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts for much of my life, and fear of talking about it, I’m finally coming to see that speaking up could lighten the load.
My heavy load, when I’m in the throes of an ‘episode,’ is I want to end my life, I want to give up. Everything appears futile.
I spiral into a place of despair, hopelessness — repeated unloving mind statements about my self — patterns that feel very hard to overcome.
I’m far far far away from my heart and the peace, Love, joy that is present there. I can’t stop reliving past trauma with fear of the future. I dissociate from my joyful everyday self.
My thought patterns are of sorrow, hatred, limitation, fear, control, that huge sense of futility.
Usually I hide this behaviour, somehow get through it, and don’t talk about it because of the shame I feel.
Lately, though, I’ve spoken a little more, slowly coming out of my cave of darkness, with a great deal of Divine Help.
How to Talk to Our Kids About Fentanyl
It’s important to talk to kids about drugs and alcohol when they’re young. A University of Alberta expert recommends starting to talk about the subject with kids as young as seven years old.
Start with these three messages. Then focus on the delivery.
By Lesley Young, March 29th, 2018
https://www.folio.ca/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-fentanyl
There’s no magic pill for talking to your kids about drugs—a conversation that is more important than ever given all kinds of street drugs are being laced with fentanyl, a new deadly entry to the market.
“Sometimes parents don’t talk to their kids about drugs because they believe they’ve taught them to make good choices. For other parents, there’s ignorance about the risk, especially when it comes to fentanyl,” said Troy Janzen, an educational psychologist at UAlberta. “They don’t know the opioid is everywhere, and that the amount of two grains of sand can kill you.”
Of the 343 people who died from fentanyl overdoses in Alberta in 2016, roughly 10 per cent were under the age of 19. The overall number of overdose deaths in all categories is likely higher but currently unknown due to data backlogs, said Elaine Hyshka, an assistant professor and addiction specialist with UAlberta’s School of Public Health.
She said talking to your kids about drug use, and establishing strong bonds with them, are an important determinant in whether the children will ultimately engage in risky behaviours like drug use.
With that in mind, here are three things to focus on while talking to your kids.