DELTA, British Columbia,May 2, 2017— OnApril 8th, 2017, the Rare Finds YVR: Feast for the Senses event took place.$111,000was raised in support of the Rare Disease Foundation in its mission to help Canadians living with rare diseases.Andrew and Meg Neufeld, co-owners of the award-winning health agency,Alongside You, were in attendance.
“Life is full of challenges. Help me understand mine.” – Max
As Andrew and Meg stared at this quote during the gala, it made them ponder the question: How well do we, as Canadians, understand the needs of this crowd that has often been overlooked by the public?
Meg grew up with an identical twin sister with a rare form of dwarfism and profound hearing loss. From an early age, they knew they were rare: 1 of 7 in the world at the time. Through their journey as a family, their father co-founded the Rare Disease Foundation with friends and colleagues and set out to change the course of research and treatment for rare diseases
Throughout their professional lives, Meg and Andrew have been intimately involved in supporting families, many of whom struggle with health conditions, including rare diseases. As pleased as they are to be able to provide support to individuals and families through the health disciplines at Alongside You, they know that the work of the Rare Disease Foundation has the potential to change health outcomes for individuals with rare diseases, and greatly relieve stresses on their families by identifying rare conditions and developing treatments — a chance to impact the individuals and families much earlier on in life and be proactive against many of the stresses these families face.
This is why supporting the Rare Disease Foundation is so important to them — because their awareness of the impact isn’t just professional, it’s family.
In order to participate in the mission of furthering Rare Disease awareness, Alongside You was involved with the Rare Finds Gala in several profound ways. They have donated gift baskets of art supplies and classes at their studio — a safe and comfortable environment for anyone of any age, diagnosis, or ability to experiment with different art mediums. They have also donated a BirkmanAssessment and coaching session package through Immerse Consulting, a subsidiary of Alongside You.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Alongside You is also a proud provider of a$3,500Microgrant to the Rare Disease Foundation. The microgrant program provides a small amount of funding($3,500)that must accomplish a specific research goal and directly improve patient care.
“The grant will go to researchers eager to solve problems for today’s patients in just 4 weeks’ time,” according to the Rare Disease Foundation.
This is why Alongside You, as a local business, believes that any small- to medium-sized businesses can make an immediate impact on finding cures for rare diseases. They sincerely hope that their story would encourage fellow small business owners to take action, and provide microgrants to support the wonderful things the Rare Disease Foundation is doing for millions of Canadians affected by rare disorders.
About Rare Disease Foundation
Founded in 2008, the Rare Disease Foundation is a registered charitable organization supporting rare disease research internationally, with a majority of that research taking place inCanada.
Their Vision and Mission is to revolutionize rare disease care through the creation of communities of patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, researchers and supporters working together to transform the lives of those living with rare disease.
About Alongside You
Alongside You is an award-winning, integrated health agency in the heart ofLadner, BC, and they serve a wide range of clientele inLadner,Delta,Vancouver,Richmond,Surrey,Langleyand surrounding areas. They provide accessible health care to anyone in their communities, because people matter.
If you would like more information about what Alongside You is doing in the community, please contactAndrew Neufeldat 604.283.7827 ext. 701,Meg Neufeldat ext. 703, or email them atinfo@alongsideyou.ca.
There’s a lot of excitement around here at Alongside You! Anyone who knows us well knows that we’re always looking to fill gaps, improve services, and find more ways to help our community. This is why we’re expanding! Here’s a taste of what’s been going on, and what to expect in the coming months!
Brand New Yoga Studio
Surprise! We’re almost finished building our new yoga studio (the trim is being put in as I write this). Why are we building a dedicated yoga studio you might ask? Aren’t there enough around already? Well, in short – no, there aren’t enough, and they aren’t like ours is going to be. We’re providing a different service here at Alongside You, and we need a space that reflects that. We focus primarily on yoga therapy and trauma sensitive yoga here in our clinic, and our studio will be set up as an ideal environment for these highly personal, individual sessions with our lovely Brenna Jacobson. As great as our art studio and private offices are, they aren’t ideal for this kind of work so we’re creating what is needed to serve our clients better.
What about yoga classes you might ask? Well, we’re going to have those too. But they’re going to be different. We’ll be focusing on small class sizes, because we hear time and time again that the size of classes is overwhelming for people. We’re going to focus on specific topics and build customized yoga programs to suit. I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag completely, but we’re going to start with kids, prenatal yoga, and Hatha Yoga 101 for Beginners. Coming down the pipe are things like yoga for anxiety, chronic pain, and much more. But one thing at a time! Stay tuned to our website and social media for all the details!
We also wanted to bring the outdoors into the studio. So, as always, we’re working with the fabulous Tyler Garnham, and we’ve found an image local to South Delta that will be installed in our studio, filling up the entire north wall. This will give us, and our clients a feeling of space, and connection to our local surroundings even while inside. I can’t wait, it’s going to be amazing!
Occupational Therapy
We love our OT, Kristin Beare, but she’s busy tending to her own kid right now. Our yoga studio is going to do a little bit of double duty and be a space for our OT to work with clients. The larger space will give much more freedom for mobility-related concerns, sensory work, and so much more! We’re also building customized storage into the new wing so that we have more tools at our fingertips. She’ll be back later on this year, and I can’t wait to see what she does with the new space with her clients. Stay tuned!
Clinical Office
Ok, this isn’t super exciting to you maybe, but it’s exciting to me. We’re building a new office that is set up more ideally for neurofeedback for clients, and for our Neurofeedback guru, Jonathan Wieser. Our other offices have worked fine, but this is going to be better. It will also be used by other counsellors, which gives us more available office space and flexible times for clinicians so that we can be more available to you as we expand! Growth is good, and we’re growing our hours to serve you better!
Group Therapy
So, the studio is also going to be used for group therapy. We already run a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) group, but we’re expanding our group therapy offerings. Between our art studio where we do our DBT, and the new group room in the yoga studio I’m pretty sure we’re going to have the coolest group therapy spaces around. Why is this important? Because I hear all the time how much our clients appreciate being in creative, beautiful spaces while they’re in our care. It makes a difference! I can’t yet reveal the new groups we’re going to be running, but we’ll be using the new space for our Adult DBT Group, Youth & Family DBT Group, and soon enough, some others!
This is awesome, so when do we get to see the new spaces and use them?
You’re not going to have to wait long! We’re opening March 1st, and our individual yoga clients will get to use the space right away, as will our neurofeedback and counselling clients. Stay tuned, because we’re opening things up throughout March for Kids Yoga over Spring Break, and following that up with Prenatal Yoga and Hatha Yoga 101 for Beginnings toward the end of March and into April.
I hope you’re excited because we are! We can’t wait to show you the new spaces, and more importantly, be even better equipped to serve you well. South Delta is our home, and we’re growing thanks to your help! Whether you’re in Ladner, Tsawwassen, North Delta, or beyond, please come check out our new digs and see what we have to offer. We’d love to meet you!
To be the first to find out about all of the new things going on, make sure you follow us online at Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Furthering our mission to provide excellence in healthcare in Metro Vancouver
Delta, B.C., December 9, 2016: Alongside You is extremely grateful to be recognized by the Delta Chamber of Commerce and Kwantlen Polytechnic University with the Rising Star of the Year award. The Rising Star of the Year is an annual award given to a Delta-based business that has shown significant operational success and growth potential.
Everyone at Alongside You are excited about the award because it validates their business model, and their impact on the community. Co-Founders Andrew Neufeld and Meg Neufeld set out to run an ethical, professional service that filled gaps in the public system and met the needs of the community, and did not discriminate on diagnosis, ability, or financial status.
Alongside You is special because it is not just a business, it is a mission.
Their mission is to provide excellence in healthcare, meet the financial needs of their clients in a compassionate way, and provide a work environment that allows their staff to thrive. Their staff buy into the vision – and this is the reason it works. For Alongside You to provide the care for people that they do, their staff make personal sacrifices alongside them.
What further sets Alongside You apart, is that they have a fund set up called the Step Forward Fund that further subsidizes services for their clients who need some extra help. Alongside You runs events and all proceeds from these events go into the fund. They also have generous members of the community who see the work they are doing and get on board, donating time, and money to help the cause. Everyone at Alongside You is blown away by the community’s involvement in their work as they do not receive any tax benefits for their donations as they are not a non-profit. Everyone at Alongside You pours their heart and soul into the community, and the community has responded and helped them achieve their goal: to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons because it is the right thing to do.
“Our hearts are to reach out to the community, find those that are not being reached by the public or other services and find a way to serve them and meet their needs. Professional, ethical, and effective health care takes not only a commitment on the part of the business owners, but also their staff as well as a community that embraces the services provided. This is our mission at Alongside You, and this has been our experience in our community. We are grateful to be a part of our local community and look forward to many more years of transformational leadership in health care in the Greater Vancouver area.” – Andrew Neufeld, Co-Founder of Alongside You
Jane Philpott, the current Minister of Health in Canada, once stated that innovation would be the key to problems in Canada’s healthcare system. Alongside You believes that by utilizing innovative programs like the Step Forward Fund and establishing the kind of community partnerships they have, health agencies across the Lower Mainland can better serve clients of all backgrounds and people with all kind of needs more effectively and efficiently, filling a gap that needs much attention.
If you would like more information about what Alongside You is doing in the community, please contact Andrew Neufeld at 604.283.7827 ext. 701, Meg Neufeld at ext. 703 or email them at info@alongsideyou.ca.
About Alongside you: Alongside You is an integrated health agency in Ladner. We offer counselling experience that is compassionate and constructive, professional and personable. Our goal is to help you move forward towards a healthy, fulfilling life. Alongside You is recognized by the Delta Chamber of Commerce and Kwantlen Polytechnic University with the Rising Star of the Year award in 2016.
It is with a heavy heart we bid farewell to Katie Huston, our Registered Dietitian. Katie has been with us from the get go, and has been an excellent member of our team here at Alongside You. We’re excited for her as she continues her work as the Manager of Food Services at St. Paul’s Hospital and starting her Masters degree at the University of British Columbia. We know she’ll do well and we wish her all the best as she takes on these new challenges! She will be sorely missed around Alongside You HQ.
I Know You Say Goodbye, I Say…Pause
You may have noticed that Kristin hasn’t been around the office much since June. We’re missing her while she’s on maternity leave, but happy to announce the birth of her first child, Owen! We’re not sure how long she’ll be away, but we are excited for her and her family and look forward to her return sometime next year!
Hello From The Other Side
It is with great pleasure I get to announce that we’ve hired another Occupational Therapist who has joined the team and is a great fit! Wendy Meades is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years of experience, and also a visual artist. To say we’re excited at the possibilities would be a grave understatement! To give you an idea of the services she offers, check out this list:
Fine motor skills enhancement
Improving printing skills
Sensory issues for kids
Self care skills
Wheelchair/Equipment needs assessments
Home/building consultations to make spaces more accessible
Ergonomics assessments
This list is not exhaustive, so if you have questions about how she can help, please give her a call at (604) 283-7827 ext. 3, or through our contact page!
Use coupon code “EARLYBIRDAJ” in our online store prior to May 25th for the early bird pricing
Availability: We require a minimum of 5 individuals and a max of 10 to run the workshop. We will refund all fees if a cancellation occurs and will give as much notice as possible to clients.
Have you ever wanted to try art journaling but need a nudge to get started? Do you journal or write regularly and want to take it to the next level by incorporating visual art? Do you want to learn some new techniques and get your hands on some inspiring prompts? Come and draw, paint, write, explore and create at our Introduction to Art Journaling workshop!
What You Will Learn
Working with your own personal journals, you will be guided through how to:
Apply a variety of techniques to alter journal pages using a range of lettering, collage, foil, pastels, salt, acrylic paint, alcohol ink and a range of watercolour mediums.
Carve your own personal lino-cut stamp, make foam-prints, and hand-cut your own stencils.
Alter pages with folds, pockets, and found material.
Learn how to build your own on-the-go art journaling kit so you can journal anywhere!
Incorporate thought provoking prompts and inspirational topics to help you explore what it means to “Be You.”
What You Need To Bring
A notebook. You generally want something portable (that is easy to pop in your purse or bag and not smaller than 5×7.Picking out a notebook is a very personally thing! Do you want lines or blank pages? Handmade paper or smooth pages?
You can also choose to bring an old book and alter its pages, using them as backdrops for your work. Make sure the binding is secure and that pages are not coming loose.
A black thin-line pen or marker. You will be using this constantly to sketch and write.
A white paint or ink pen for writing or sketching over your pages.
Come with the basics and some of your favorite tools and we will provide the rest!
What We Will Provide For You To Use In The Studio
We have an assortment of:
Pencils, ink pens, gel pens, and sharpies
Wide range of papers, foils, tissue, textured and printed material.
Scissors, paper cutters, tracing tools, templates, stencils, and rulers
Tape (masking, washi, duct), glue, acrylic medium, gel medium, gesso
Watercolours (pallet, crayons, pencils, pens), oil paint, and acrylic paint
Chalk and oil pastels, stamping objects, ink, sponges, brushes, alcohol inks, fabric, and much, much more!
Is This Just For Artists?
Absolutely not! Art journaling can be done by anyone! Art journaling is your own personal place where you can experiment with colour, materials, textures, and script. You don’t have to show your art journal to anyone as they may contain your own personal thoughts and your personal creative expressions and that is okay! It is the creative process that is important. Your journal is a place for you to work things out, to express your inner most feelings. It doesn’t have to be perfect as you are using your journal as a place to experiment with your creativity. Your art journal is yours alone and you do not have to discuss the content of your journal with anyone unless you wish to do so. We are always here and ready to assist you in any way.
Have Further Questions?
If you have any further questions, please contact Meg Neufeld at the office by calling (604) 283-7827 ext. 2 or by emailing meg@alongsideyou.ca and she will be happy to answer any questions you might have!
We are so pleased to announce today that we are bringing on Brenna Jacobson as our newest associate and team member here at Alongside You! Brenna brings a wealth of experience from all sorts of areas of life including the hospitals and medical system, to pelvic rehabilitation and therapeutic yoga! While you may have heard of pelvic rehabilitation and therapeutic yoga before (who hasn’t heard of yoga?), you may not have seen it as an individual service, which is what Brenna will be offering, starting May 1, 2016!
We’re excited to offer Brenna’s services to our clients because anyone who meets her very quickly learns how passionate she is about pelvic rehabilitation and yoga, and also how passionate she is about reaching people who may not have been introduced to these services before, or may have shied away from them in the past. Brenna’s services are all offered on a one on one basis, and her yoga practice is focusing particularly on those struggling with mental health difficulties and/or trauma. So many people can benefit from her services but may be too anxious or turned off by large groups of people and large spaces, and she will be able to create a safe space, with individual attention to each of her clients.
I could go on forever about how awesome it is that Brenna is joining us, and extoll her virtues but who better to introduce herself, than Brenna? Without further ado, I’ll hand over this space to our newest member of the team, Brenna Jacobson!
Hi everyone!
My name is Brenna Jacobson and I am so excited to be joining the team here at Alongside You! I am a BCRPA Certified Registered Fitness Professional (RFP). I retired from being an administrator at Fraser Health in 2010 and worked to get my certification as a Pfilates (Pelvic floor) Instructor/Trainer for pelvic health and fitness in the United States under gynecologist Dr. Bruce Crawford of Reno Nevada in 2012. I have also been certified in several fields of fitness, including Yoga, Osteofit, Older Adult and Weight Training. I have expanded my practice particularly under the Yoga umbrella providing Pre-natal Yoga, Gentle Yoga for Osteo, Senior’s Yoga (Sr’s 50+), and Children’s Yoga. I’m also certified as a Pre- and Post-Natal Fitness Consultant, which I enjoy immensely! My work as a Pre- and Post- Natal Fitness Consultant covers all aspects of pregnancy from preparation for delivery through strengthening the pelvic environment, often including a Yoga practice. My work with clients also provides an ongoing fitness program through pregnancy, and designs post natal programs to begin as soon as possible for recovery after delivery. I love the fact that I get to work with my clients all the way through their pregnancy journey and use my skills and knowledge to help them come up with a plan, and use their own strengths to have a fulfilling pre- and post-natal experience.
I also have a passion for helping people with health conditions that may go untreated. Many people go undiagnosed with common conditions such as urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, tummy pouch, poor posture or pelvic pain. Many of these conditions get chalked up to child bearing, old age, etc., thinking that nothing can be done about it because “that’s just life!” That couldn’t be farther from the truth, and what I teach is living proof.
I am passionate about the work I do through the services I provide using Therapeutic Yoga. An example of these services is Yoga for Fertility, and the Pelvic Rehabilitation programs, like Pfilates. They are effective and only require desire and some discipline on the client’s part, and a commitment to creating improved health through self-help. I incorporate techniques from other areas that I have studied, including specialized postural techniques and ways of dealing with conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, which is not exclusive to women. Most people do not know that many men as well as women experience renal incontinence. Men often experience urinary incontinence post-prostatectomy and can benefit from Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) techniques.
Throughout my career I have specialized in women’s health, encompassing pelvic health of women from teens to very old age. If you have given birth, you are post natal. Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) is a very effective therapy for a number of issues, such as: Stress, Urge, or Mixed Urinary Incontinence (UI), which is helped by building a strong healthy pelvic environment for delivery (for which pre-natal yoga is greatly supportive); Infertility (which generally includes both partners), where Yoga is also an important part of the therapy treatment; menstrual health through improved circulation, and for back and pelvic girdle pain by stabilizing the pelvis to support the lower back and reduce sciatic nerve and muscle pain. PFMT is also effective in prevention of injuries post-partum by countering the effects of the hormones relaxin and progesterone, which overly relax the ligaments and joints for up to 6 months after delivery. Sexual satisfaction can be improved by increasing motor and nerve supply to vital nerves, along with conditions like Dyspareunia (painful intercourse), common enough during and after pregnancy, by increasing circulation and teaching relaxation techniques for pelvic floor muscles. Posture is another common issue that we often don’t notice until it has begun to deteriorate. It is common post-partum, or in clients with osteoporosis. In either of these cases a gentle yoga practice is a good adjunct to PFMT.
Other issues I help clients deal with can be post-natal weight loss, and a condition called DRA – Diastasis Recti Abdominus, which is separation of the recti muscles, more often called Pooch or Mummy Tummy. This is an extremely common condition and will increase with successive child births. It needs to be dealt with through a fitness regime including PFMT. One final condition I need to mention, is pelvic organ prolapse, or POP. This condition exists in epidemic proportions, occurs not only seniors and the middle aged, but teens as well. The causes can range from high impact sport activities, pushing phase of childbirth, surgical procedures that remove organs (ectomies) and conditions such as emphysema with chronic coughing, to name a few.
Have you had enough information yet? I love talking about what I do because I believe that I can help a lot of people who are struggling with conditions that might not get the attention they deserve! I am continually committed to increasing my scope of knowledge and expertise, and in turn, offer it up to clients in the hope that it may relieve suffering and improve quality of life. I have a foundational belief that my work with clients can build their sense that they do have some control of the outcomes of their health. My work is about empowerment, and quality of life, and if it hasn’t come across enough yet, I love what I do!
I know this was a lot of information to throw at you – let me say, if you have any questions about what I do, or if I can help, please give me a call at the office at 604-283-7827 or email me at brenna@alongsideyou.ca and I’d love to chat about how we can move forward together!