RIVERVIEW: University of Life

RIVERVIEW: University of Life
A productive, sustainable, therapeutic community
for people living with substance addiction and mental illness

Set on 244 acres of parkland, the RIVERVIEW University of Life utilises existing buildings and land to provide a unique opportunity for hands on education and training to guest students.

RIVERVIEW offers:

A clinical intake assessment wing where people are helped to stabilise on their medications and detox from their substance use. The time spent in this process is 7-30 days.

Guests then move into a transition wing where they engage primarily in regular psychotherapy, psycho-education and life skills training. During this transition period, guests are encouraged to take part in low impact activities which benefit the community and to reflect upon the skills and training they would like to undertake which will enhance achievement of their future goals. The period of time spent in this process is from 30-60 days.

Now guests are invited to make a decision to commit to remaining in the community for a minimum of two years, ideally three. During this time they will become a working student in any of the five faculties – Arts/Music, Education, Horticulture/Animal Management, Hotel and TradeBased Skills. They will have the opportunity to complete certification in any of the faculties in a timely fashion and then switch to another faculty as they self-manage their education. They may also take the option of ranging across faculties if they would like time to solidify their interest. The time-frame will be flexible and adjustable.

During this time, they will also be expected to fully engage in leisure, sporting and recreational pursuits, and to support the community in extracurricular activities that may be undertaken to enhance and improve the community.

On completion of this educative period, guests will have the option to remain in the community for a mutually agreeable period of time, as peer educators and mentors, or be assisted to gain employment and accommodation as they re-enter society. Those who choose to leave will remain founding members of the community and will be welcome to return at any time.

HORTICULTURE/ANIMAL MANAGEMENT FACULTY

The open parkland is home to a valuable collection of rare trees. Preserving and studying this collection forms part of the Horticulture/Animal Management curriculum, as does the creation of several extensive organic vegetable gardens, berry gardens, a temperate climate orchard and a small collection of maples. Animals such as chickens, rabbits, goats, llamas, sheep and a small herd of 10 prize winning Jersey cows are also cultivated for food and fibre, with horses, dogs and other companion animals providing therapeutic interaction to the recovering population.

Organic cultivation methods will be used in the gardens, including permaculture, companion planting, crop rotation and use of natural fertilisers and composting. Ancient as well as modern seed varieties will be used to increase the diversity of crops.

Animals are grown for food and fibre in an ethical and humane manner. The companion animals are available to provide support and love to all students while remaining the responsibility of this Faculty

TRADEBASED SKILLS FACULTY

The upgrade, rebuild and renovation of the heritage buildings in an ecofriendly and sustainable way, is the responsibility of the TradeBased Skills faculty. Supervised by a team of qualified tradespeople, the student workforce will progress through construction, carpentry, plumbing and electrical components to achieve a recognised certification of skill level.


Renovating the existing buildings using recycled, natural, recovered, non chemical materials, water saving, solar and wind technology, and non sweatshop products, is the overall goal of this faculty. An intangible yet highly influential aspect of this work is that the student workforce will be directly responsible for creating their own living environment, working on building their community and thus acquiring a sense of commitment and ownership of their own “place”.

ARTS/MUSIC FACULTY

First Nations drumming and carving will form the basis of this Faculty, together with music, painting, crafts such as weaving and sewing, and pottery. All the work of the guest students will be used throughout the campus to enhance, furnish and decorate the living areas. Decoration and entertainment for all special events will be the responsibility of this Faculty and all student work will become an intrinsic part of the College. A special responsibility of this faculty will be the creation and maintenance of a special sacred space for all members of the College as well as the decoration of this space on the occasion of visits by spiritual leaders.

The cultural heritage of the First Nations People will manifest across the entire College as a respect for the people, the animals and the land, an understanding and reverence for what went before, what happens now and what is to come for the future.

This Faculty will encourage creativity and diversity across art forms while delivering a high level of fundamental skills training. An important function of the Faculty will be to create a documentary to record the history of the creation and growth of this community.

EDUCATION FACULTY

Guest students will be able to study components of the standard curriculum they need, up to Senior Grade 12. Education will also be responsible for the general administration of the College so students will receive a solid grounding in office management including computer skills, accounting, purchasing, “interoffice liaison”, data collection and record keeping. Community relations will manage the public face of the College via this Faculty.

Education will interact with other Faculties periodically to provide theoretical learning, certification, guest speakers and special inservices as required.

Spiritual leaders, environmental experts, human rights advocates as well as those experienced in healing therapies, will be invited to attend the College on a frequent basis.

HOTEL FACULTY

Hotel is responsible for feeding and housing the entire campus. Students will gain experience across the entire range of Hotel service, from kitchen prep to fine cuisine, bussing and waiting to front of house, room cleaning to special event organising (in conjunction with Arts/Music), food safety, purchasing and waste management.

All Hotel functions will be carried out using natural and non chemical products, waste will be kept to a minimum, composting, reusing and recycling will be standard wherever possible.

RIVERVIEW understands that all people are not born with equal opportunity. The trauma of years which manifests in drug addiction, mental illness, often physical disability and marginalisation within society, cannot be undone without extensive and ongoing deep therapy.

The overriding philosophy of RIVERVIEW University of Life, is the compassionate, respectful, and nonjudgmental interaction with individuals, animals, and the land. Healing and personal growth will be achieved within a productive environment where everyone is useful and able to contribute, where this contribution is valued and valuable, and where caring for each other and the community is part of the healing process.

Currently there is no organisation which offers an entirely holistic method of healing which includes care for the environment as well as healing the people. There are however numerous therapeutic communities around the world which are similarly structured. These communities have a high rate of success in enabling guests to turn their lives around, deal with their individual traumas, and make a successful return into mainstream society.

With global warming, wars, poverty and increasing dysfunction within urban populations, the alienation of large groups of people with post traumatic stress disorder, mental illness and substance addiction, continues to increase. The creation of long term healing communities which offer a therapeutic process, married to environmentally friendly production, education and hands on useful work, is becoming more urgent.

Just as the land will not be healed overnight from years of pollution and mismanagement, so the people who have suffered deep trauma will not be healed by short term detox and “recovery” options. Hope for the future is dashed upon the reality of a society which does not welcome recovered addicts and criminals. While they may exit treatment clean, enthusiastic and determined to change their lives, “normal” society is not so forgiving of a lack of marketable skills, a history of criminal activity, and chronic illness. Relapse becomes the fault of the addict, yet another negative brick to weigh down a fragile psyche, not the fault of the system which knows the answers yet fails to provide real solutions.

The time has come to erect a healing model where both the people and the planet are respected, nurtured and healed.

This concept is supported by The Riverview Preservation Society, Cottage Farm Centre for Mental Health, S E E R S (Socially Ethically Environmentally Responsible Society), VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users).

For further information please check out the Association of Therapeutic Communities at www.therapeuticcommunities.org . See below for other references:


www.sanpatrignano.org.
www.gatehouseacademy.com
www.delanceystreetfoundation.org
www.coolminetc.ie
www.rosehillcentre.com

For information, please call Tui Hill at S E E R S Inc, on 778 230 1696, at tui@shaw.ca, or standuphq@hotmail.com