On December 1st we pause to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Branching Out Support Services – to celebrate the day we opened our door at 5 First Street to commence service. Our lives took a sharp turn down a new path and the journey has been what all good journeys are supposed to be – triumphant, devastating, success-filled, mistake-ridden, hopeful, scary… and we’ve had a front row seat to the whole thing.
What started out as a necessity driven by a force of passion has cooled to a cohesive system of interdependence, learning and alignment. Some of the lessons that grass-roots entrepreneurship teaches you are the hardest knocks of life. The lessons that take your breath away and make us question if what we are attempting to do is “worth it”, if we “have what it takes” or if we are “resilient enough”.
I’m here as a witness to tell you that we are never going to be “resilient enough”, or “tough enough” to make it out there alone. This is why, by design, BOSS has always been a work and passion of many, there is a legion of light workers who create the engine of change you see when you pop over to our social media pages, attend an event or read an advocacy blog. The saying is true that if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together – together we have gone far over the last 5 years, we have also been blessed enough to go deep into who we really are.
There is nothing “small” about our small business. The amount and levels of effort that go into the operations and collaborations are as intricate as they are flexible. A culture is profoundly emerging at the Architect program where neurodivergent adults are planning and implementing their own programs and lives. Skill building is inherent to this and so with support professionals in the shadows every step of the way we are seeing more collaboration AND more autonomy for the participants. This is the highest potential outcome from empowered support networks. We love watching you grow.
Our mental health service is available for people who don’t always fit inside the traditional box of talk therapy. We have practitioners with lived experience ready to engage with neurodivergent people in a way that is accessible to them. Honoring lived experience has become a hallmark of the last 5 years as we have on-boarded neurodivergent staff and participants, learning from them as we go.
BOSS teams have worked hard to create a theory of change, strive and achieve a BCorp Certification, receive numerous grants and awards as well as gain attention in the municipal and corporate world through advocacy and education about neurodiversity. Each piece of what we do contributes to a whole benefitting the people who buy and receive services and supports from BOSS. Interconnectedness and interdependence are crucial for creating innovative support networks for neurodivergent people in our community. It’s time to flourish.
The gratitude list is long, it’s really long! So here we will summarize with the knowledge that all of these people/groups contribute in unique and deeply impactful ways to BOSS, we see you and we offer thanks to:
The families, participants and clients who chose us to walk the journey with you. You inspire, challenge (in a good way), hold space for and complete us.
The support professionals who pour in – there are a few teams to mention here: our downtown onsite team led by Tabi and Carly, our incredible support/relief staff, students, volunteers and champions. Special shout out to Trish who has shown up in some pretty magical ways over the last year and will be joining the downtown team full time in 2025. Tabi works extra hard to manage the mental health services and support the practitioners; our lives are deeply enriched by Tabi’s consistency and grace. Carly has dedicated her time to BOSS for nearly the entire 5 years we have been open; her loyalty is second to none. Our choice program facilitators Liz Glenday and Brooke Clarke-Hardy also bring such joy and skill to our lives.
Our financial and admin team – special shouts to Jeff and Steph who hold Kim together like glue…nothing gets done without YOU. I’ll add big props to our media team led by Sarah, who supports all things tech/website/socials and a lot of other stuff the human services professionals are still learning about!
Our community partners from the Orangeville Public Library, The Food Bank, The Downtown BIA, The Orangeville District Horticultural Society, Theatre Orangeville, The Expert Talk, Westminster Church, Dufferin Board of Trade, Family Transition Place and Dufferin Area Family Health Team Mental Health Supporters, just to name a few who engage with our business in partnership, collaboration and support.
There is also this “unseen” but fully heard team of BOSS cheerleaders that rally around us in the most aligned and surprising ways. People who show up for events, drop of donations, have pen-pal letter writing campaigns with the adults at Architect; the people who think of us, like our social media posts, cheer for us in the background along with thousands of other quiet, humble gestures that make life more comfortable. We also feel YOU. You are a force of kindness and love that we could not live without.
And, Mr. James Loughran, we salute you. If BOSS ever had an ambassador award James would win it. He pours his heart and soul into the infrastructure, the physical location, the people and the spirit of the organization.
BOSS is a web, and all strands lead to the center which is a place of belonging and support. There is no one person responsible for the living and breathing entity that we have co-created through our joy and also our tears. All I can say is: if this is what you can do in the first 5 years – there is a lot more brilliance on the way.
Onward.
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