At Yarrow Collective, the vision is clear: to cultivate a community where individuals experiencing mental health and/or substance use struggles have access to effective, accessible, and safe pathways tailored to their unique definitions of mental wellness. By offering alternatives to traditional mental health services, Yarrow Collective emphasizes peer support, recovery, and harm reduction. They strive to “allow space for mental distress, awaken to the wisdom of our lived experiences, aspire toward healing justice, amplify our voices, and advocate for meaningful choice and change.”
Joining the Community Impact Center (CIC) has proven to be a transformative resource for Yarrow Collective. Silen Wellington, Peer Supporter, Director, and Co-founder, stated:
“I feel like it came around at exactly the right time for us. We were hitting this tension point of not having a home base.”
The new facility has provided an essential hub for meetings, collaboration, and community engagement.
Access to free office space alongside facilities operations support has alleviated significant logistical hurdles. Silen explained:
“Grassroots organizations are really good at the people part and the programs. When we were first starting out, the logistics weren’t in our wheelhouse. Dealing with trying to pay for rent and facilities and operations would have decreased our ability to provide support. That operations support is so pivotal to organizations like ours. Without the space and logistics support, we might not have made it, frankly, because we would have gotten burnt out.”
The Community Impact Center has provided consistent space for Yarrow Collective to host important initiatives, such as the Alternatives to Suicide group, while fostering new partnerships with fellow CIC organizations. For instance, they collaborated with Queen’s Legacy Foundation to lead a BIPOC Youth Group. Silen noted, “I don’t think this would have happened without the shared space. The youth that Queen was working with specifically asked for a peer space to process racism. Youth say they feel less alone after attending and have greater support systems afterward.” They added, “Being neighbors increases the familiarity and ability to identify opportunities for collaboration.”
Yarrow Collective anticipates continued growth and sustainability through its involvement in the Community Impact Center. Since Yarrow Collective started hosting groups at the CIC in Fall 2021, they have seen 182 unduplicated participants and 1,150 duplicated participants in the peer support groups that take place at the Community Impact Center, and an additional 66 at other events they’ve hosted. Silen reflected:
“We have grown a lot in the past year, and we wouldn’t have been able to make those transitions as quickly if we had to deal with the logistics of facilities, operations, and rent ourselves.”
Being part of the CIC has supported Yarrow Collective in focusing on what they do best: programming and educating the community about peer support while advocating for a more inclusive approach to behavioral health services.
Yarrow Collective exemplifies the transformative power of community collaboration in reshaping mental health and substance misuse support. They continue to create a lasting impact on the lives they serve, working toward a future where lived experience is valued and consent is central to care.
To learn more about Yarrow Collective, visit www.yarrowcollective.org.
