By Nicole Starker Campbell
For The Pipestone Flyer
Wetaskiwin’s Touchstone Place Clubhouse members are enjoying a newly made over space featuring a unique art piece.
Touchstone Place Clubhouse in Wetaskiwin is a program for adults with mental illness. The organization provides opportunities for its over 70 clients to participate in programs such as cooking, camping, crafting, games, walkathons, and work experience.
Manager Amanda McGuire says the clubhouse is a safe place for them to come socialize and make friends, and to feel supported, not judged.
The quiet room in the clubhouse was renamed the “Stepping stones to wellness” room in November. The clubhouse can be a loud and lively place during activities like holiday parties and the “Stepping stones to wellness” room provides a haven for members who need a little time to recharge alone or have a quiet conversation. Elinor Giesbrecht, member and bookkeeper at Touchstone Place, says the room is especially useful for those with anxiety disorders.
The space received a fresh coat of paint, an updated rug, new chairs, and some amazing art. A dozen Touchstone members, including Giesbrecht, used 20 ceramic tiles to create a one and a half by two foot “quilt” that hangs on the wall.
The members had artistic freedom when it came to decorating the tiles with paint and found objects including old coins, keys, beads, rocks and shells. “They’re decorated with a whole lot of stuff that I collected over a whole lot of years,” Giesbrecht says.
The room is close to completed, but still requires some additional furniture. Touchstone Place is selling 50/50 raffle tickets in the hopes of raising $500 to purchase two end tables, a chair, and a CD player for the new stepping stones to wellness room. Tickets cost one dollar and draw date is April 1.
Tickets for the 50/50 are available at Touchstone Place Clubhouse at 5205 49 Avenue and everyone is welcome to drop by and see the members’ tile art project.
“It’s pretty awesome,” McGuire says. “I think the best part is that our members did it and no one in the world has this except this clubhouse.”