Words Lissa Miles, CONNECT Communities
Photo Sarah Hartley Photography
The Saanich Peninsula is now home to CONNECT Communities, a specialized resource coaching people to redesign their lives after brain injury and stroke.
Just off Highway 17 at Mount Newton Cross Road on SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout) First Nation land, CONNECT Saanich Peninsula is housed in a beautifully-redesigned motel. The building comprises four self-contained houses, each with six or seven bedrooms to support 26 people at a time. Common areas include a gym and multi-purpose room and light-filled atrium.
Deemed Leading Practice by Accreditation Canada, CONNECT’s Life Redesign Model is a culture of: personal accountability with the individual as the driver of their redesign; smart risks; meaningful community participation; leveraging neuroplasticity in non-institutional ways; a coaching culture; and blended job roles with a “doing with” versus “doing for” approach.
CONNECT’s dedication to its coaching culture is demonstrated by the team members’ titles. Nurses are Health and Wellness Coaches, Occupational Therapists are Independence Coaches, Recreation Therapists are Play Coaches, Support Workers are Life Redesign Coaches, etc. Every coach walks alongside the people supported, essentially wrapping services around them and their unique journey.
CONNECT started with one group home in Langley in 1993. Several group homes were added over time, but a game changer came 15 years later with the opening of CONNECT Lake Country in partnership with Interior Health. Next came CONNECT Hamiton, which opened in 2019 in Ontario in partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences. CONNECT Saanich Peninsula opened this summer in partnership with Island Health, and CONNECT Parksville – also in partnership with Island Health – is scheduled to open in late 2026.
Sarah Bragg, Leader of Culture, People and Services (site leader) at CONNECT Saanich Peninsula, says the Life Redesign Model supports people to have agency over
their lives.
“In the short time we have been open, we have seen miraculous things happening for the people we support,” says Sarah. “I am so thankful to be part of the life-changing work that will happen here, helping people transition back to their homes and communities.”
CONNECT CEO Patti Flaherty says CONNECT Saanich Peninsula was made possible because of the tenacity of Island Health, the welcome embrace of the SȾÁUTW̱ First Nation, and a positive recruitment response.
“We have put together an incredible team of humans to work with us, we have a solid, empowering partner in Island Health, and the experience of being located on Indigenous land has been a culturally rich experience with an exciting road of learning ahead,” says Patti. “I am so happy to finally be bringing our Life Redesign Model to the Island.”
The opening of CONNECT Saanich Peninsula was officially announced at an event in June and included remarks by SȾÁUTW̱ elder Mavis Underwood, CONNECT CEO, Patti Flaherty, BC Health Minister Josie Osborne, Saanich South MLA Lana Popham, Island Health Board Chair Leah Hollins, Island Health Manager of Specialized Populations, Alison Gaul, Island Health VP James Hanson, and attended by other members of the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation and Island Health.
