About Us
In the beginning …
Our club was created in February 2021 by a few people who met serendipitously on Clubhouse. We had just joined the app, and quickly recognized the potential of the platform for creating some space for discussions about bipolar. Our peer rooms provide support as well as tremendous learning from others as stories are shared. We started in March with 2 rooms per week, and ran these consistently through to August.
Making it real …
By September 2021, we knew we had something that was beneficial for folks, and we wanted to continue and grow. We started promoting the club on social media, and added our series of weekly speaker panels, which have been amazing! We also added Guided Academic Discussions on Sundays which have been excellent.
Year 1 …
We made tremendous strides during our first year. We became an incorporated non-profit, and established a consistent model for delivering Peer Support services. Our moderators are some of the most knowledgeable and informed individuals anywhere, and we strive to provide as many rooms as necessary to support our members. We’re proud to have reached more than 2600 members worldwide in our first year!
Year 2 …
We’ve been planning our Year 2 for several months. It has always been in our plans to seek full charity status in Canada as our next major milestone. This will allow us to issue tax receipts to donors allowing them to write off against their personal income tax (at first this will be available to residents of Canada only). A major restructure in our back office is necessary for this phase. We are adding Board members who believe in our mission and can help us navigate the charity challenges we are facing with the Canadian Revenue Agency. We also need to add new management positions, especially for Finance Control which is far more involved for Charities vs Non-Profits. The recruiting for Board and Management positions will be open to all, stayed tuned for updates.
Finally, we are opening an office in Seattle by the end of 2022 to pursue 501c3 status in the USA as our “next” major milestone. This will likely have to wait for our Year 3 to be fully implemented. Please feel free to contact us anytime with questions or suggestions about the ongoing evolution of the club.