@movingforwardfamilies
Moving Forward Family Services, led by Gary Thandi, is a Surrey-based charity working to make therapy possible when most systems shut the door.
Their team includes supervisors who oversee between 150 and 275 part-time counsellors, social workers, and interns in practicum placements. They’ve delivered over 22,000 sessions last year, with about 15,000 being free.
They’re explicitly committed to anti-oppression, anti-racism, BIPOC-friendly, low-barrier care — welcoming folks of all identities, languages, backgrounds, and economic realities. You’ll find them offering individual, couples, family, group, and coaching/psychoeducational supports.
Their fee model adapts:
$50 individual / $65 couples for no-wait sessions with registered counsellors
~$20 (or less) for intern-led sessions with wait times, and “pay what you can” options for those with low income.
To reach them: go to their intake page via movingforward.help, email hello@movingforward.help, or call/text 778-321-3054.
Tucked inside the old Little Fernwood hall, the Fernwood Community Arts Association is what happens when neighbours refuse to let creativity disappear. They keep the lights on for theatre shows, art exhibits, and community gatherings that remind people what it means to belong somewhere.
FCAA isn’t just an arts organization—it’s a local anchor. They offer affordable space to artists, run workshops, and help keep Fernwood’s creative heartbeat steady. When the city changes fast, they make sure there’s still a place for collaboration, story, and connection.
Gatherly started as a small idea—what if friendship didn’t have to be accidental? What if we built spaces where connection was the point? Now, every month, they host gatherings around Victoria that bring people together across backgrounds, professions, and creative paths.
It’s part community circle, part social experiment: show up, meet new people, make something together, maybe find your next collaborator or friend. Gatherly is what happens when you turn isolation into invitation—connection, by design.
Sage Artistry is an Indigenous-owned beadwork and design studio that blends traditional Métis artistry with contemporary style. Each piece is crafted as both wearable art and cultural storytelling, carrying forward teachings, resilience, and identity through bead and thread.
More than a business, Sage Artistry creates connection — giving people a way to honour heritage, support Indigenous makers, and bring beauty rooted in lived history into their daily lives. You can explore their work and connect directly through Instagram @sageartistry.ca.
