J.E. enjoying a creative writing course supported by the Education Access Fund.

We are grateful to CIBC who contributed $5,000 to kick start Fraserside’s Education Access Fund. These funds are intended to provide persons served with access to courses to build skills, explore interests and improve employability.

This fund provides a great opportunity for people who face barriers, to participate and engage with the community in a way that would not ordinarily be possible. We have already had three persons served access these funds to date, using them to take courses to achieve employment goals, gaining knowledge about mental health, and new skills. Delta House resident J. E. recently completed a creative writing course that she greatly enjoyed in addition to finding therapeutic benefit from regular expression through writing. Fraserside’s Delta House supports young adults with serious and persistent mental illness.

J.E. has given Fraserside permission to share her original poem “The Fork” about mental health recovery.

The Fork
By: J.E.

She was the one captured in a pitch-black room, feeling for the light
The darkness convinces her there is nothing she can do about it.
She had been numb for decades
She had seen enough tragedy
But the memories,
The memories are like fire in her head and on her arm
They left their mark at some time or another
But what she knows now is that there is a fork in the road;
One leading to a comfortable hell
The other, an uncomfortable heaven
So she dredges her beaten body out of the muddy hole she inherited
And what she knows now is she wants to live.
To really live.
To breathe and fight and live her life,
So she will walk towards an uncomfortable heaven

Beautiful work J.E.!

We are very grateful to CIBC for supporting this fund and helping to remove barriers for people wanting to gain new skills and to make contributions meaningful to them. Thank you, CIBC for helping us create more inclusive communities.