Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

Our journey began with a shared frustration - as helping professionals, we witnessed countless clients struggling to navigate a fragmented mental health system. We saw brilliant therapists working in isolation, unable to provide the holistic care their clients desperately needed. There are divisions within practitioner and client dynamics, divisions in professions and disciplines who are all hoping to help create sustainable wellness for our community, divisions in who gets access to quality care and what care is available to our community; these realization sparked a vision: what if we could create a practice that breaks down these barriers? We started Venturous as a group of friends dreaming of something different. A practice where we could bring community back into mental health care, a practice where we care for one another so our clients always get the best of us, a practice where we connect with like-minded practitioners in different disciplines, working together to create opportunities of holistic wellness for our clients, a practice where we go beyond traditional talk therapy to support our clients in building community with each other as well as reconnect with their full humanity and capacity for growth within themselves. We are so passionate about the work we’re able to do with this foundation of connectivity because we have experienced and witnessed the difference it makes. Each and every story we hear about how we’ve been able to impact a community member’s life and in turn have them impact those they love is the reason we continue to strive beyond the typical limitations of our profession. We are truly grateful that we get to call this our work and look forward to connecting with more and more amazing humans to come. Every success story fuels our commitment and we have a couple that we were able to get permission to share. Like Sarah (name changed to protect confidentiality), who found not just a therapist but a supportive community through our events building sustainable support networks through these increasingly isolated times, or Mark (name changed to protect confidentiality), whose recovery accelerated when we connected him with both mental health support and a multidisciplinary team of practitioners all collaborating with his care at the forefront. These experiences remind us daily of the profound impact of our work, driving us to continually innovate and expand our vision of what mental health care can be.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

In just three years, our queer, POC-led practice has grown from a one person show to a thriving community of five dedicated professionals. We've had the privilege of supporting over 800 clients, but our impact extends far beyond individual and relationship therapy sessions. We've organized and hosted 12 free community events, ranging from workshops on stress management, preventing burnout, and building connections, to fundraisers for local mutual aid efforts. These events have reached over 1,500 community members, fostering connections and promoting mental health awareness. Our crowning achievement is our free mental health resource database - the first of its kind in our field. With over 860 carefully curated resources, this database has become a foundation of support for those facing barriers to accessing mental health care. In the past year alone, it has been accessed by over 1300 unique users, demonstrating its vital role in our community. Recently we've also partnered with 8 local organizations to support lower cost mental health services, making quality care accessible to those who might otherwise go without. Through these partnerships, we've funded over 300 reduced-fee sessions in the last year. The community's response has been overwhelming. We've seen a 40% increase in client referrals through word-of-mouth in the past year, and our social media following has grown by 150%, creating a vibrant online community of support and resource-sharing. As we look to the future, we're excited to expand our reach and impact. We're currently developing a mentorship program for aspiring POC mental health professionals and planning to double our free community events in the coming year.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

As a counselling agency, we are commonly connected with individuals who are going through some of the roughest times in their lives. Our team is always actively going above and beyond for the clients and community agencies we support, whether that’s to provide advocacy or coming up with creative solutions to complex problems impacting daily life, and looking at ways where everyone can benefit from community care. Winning the Business Impact award would be more than recognition - it would be a catalyst for expanding our vision of community-centered mental health care. As a counselling agency, we're uniquely positioned to create ripple effects of positive change. Each client we support can spark healing in their own families and communities. With the recognition and reach of the Business Impact award, we could amplify these efforts exponentially. We have plans to launch a mobile app for our database to expand it nationally, potentially reaching millions who struggle to access mental health support. We're also developing standalone programming that will support our community in accessing art therapy based exercises for their wellness at a much more accessible rate than through individual therapy. We're ready to take our vision to the next level, creating lasting change not just in individual lives, but hopefully in the very fabric of how we approach mental health as a society. We’re eager to expand our contributions to new communities, expand the scope of our multidisciplinary practice, and build more sustainable systems of care that are inclusive to the community at large. We would be so honoured to be recognized through this award and to invite even more collaborators into our network of care.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

Community care is at the core of what we do and it shows in our collaborations with each other and the community at large. At Venturous, we aren’t just a team working together, but a family where we care for each other beyond our work. This shows in our bi-weekly coffee and connection meetings, in the ways we show up for each other when we’re ill or going through difficult times in our personal lives. It shows in the ongoing relationships we have built with community organizations we collaborate with at our events, and in the innovative ways we offer support to our community through mutual aid and other free resources they are able to access with us. We see each other beyond business arrangements and numbers to add to reports, prioritizing consent and respect in all of our interactions to build long-lasting, soul-nourishing relationships. We've implemented a systemic feedback processes that allows clients, partners, and team members to shape our practices continually. This has led to initiatives we’ll be launching in the new year like our cozy corner podcast, where clients can submit questions to our team to support them in a more accessible manner and Venturous Food & Friends, a series of hangouts creating opportunities for our clients and community members to connect with each other and our team in a relaxed, non-clinical setting. Our events always are built around a cause in mind and created in collaboration with community agencies who could also benefit from having these opportunities.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

We believe Venturous deserves to win the Premier's People's Choice Award because our community's unwavering support has been the cornerstone of our growth and impact. Our journey from a one-person show to a thriving practice of five dedicated professionals in just three years is a testament to the community's faith in our vision. The loyalty of our community is evident in the 40% increase in client referrals through word-of-mouth in the past year alone. This organic growth demonstrates that our clients not only value our services but actively champion our work to friends and family. Our social media following has grown by 150%, creating a vibrant online community of support and resource-sharing. This digital family extends our reach and impact, allowing us to support and uplift even more community members. The overwhelming response to our free mental health resource database - with over 1300 unique users in the past year - shows how our community values and utilizes the tools we provide. This database, the first of its kind in our field, was born from listening to our community's needs and has become a vital resource. Our 12 free community events, reaching over 1,500 community members, have been successful due to the active participation and enthusiasm of our supporters. These events, ranging from workshops to fundraisers, showcase how our community rallies around our initiatives. The success of our partnerships with 8 local organizations to provide lower-cost mental health services is another indicator of community support. Through these collaborations, we've been able to fund over 300 reduced-fee sessions in the last year, made possible by the community's belief in our mission. Our clients' willingness to share their stories, like Sarah and Mark, despite the stigma often associated with mental health, speaks volumes about their trust and support for our work. Winning the Premier's People's Choice Award would be a recognition not just of our efforts, but of the incredible community that has embraced and propelled our vision forward. It would validate the collective effort of every individual who has supported us, attended our events, used our resources, or shared our message. This award would belong to our community as much as it would to us, celebrating the power of what we can achieve when we come together to support mental health and well-being.