About BDSBC

The Bipolar Disorder Society of British Columbia (BDSBC) is a charity that holds much promise for the mental health community and beyond. How did it all begin? The Bipolar Babe Project was created in March 2009 by Andrea Paquette, currently the Society’s President. She wanted to share her personal story of living with bipolar disorder and the events that had taken place upon diagnosis in 2005. She didn’t want others to suffer the same consequences and distress, so with the encouragement of friends and new friends from the non-profit world, she began sharing her story. First, came the wonderful website www.bipolarbabe.com created by Danielle Hobbs, now owner of Polarity Web, she had offered to create the site out of the kindness of her heart. She was passionate about the cause and put her heart into making an amazing website. Andrea began to share her story with numerous people and organizations and the more people she met, the more certain individuals began to believe in her and the cause of 'stomping out stigma'. She luckily attended a Innovative Communities.org meeting to share the Bipolar Babe vision and there she met Robin Holden and Rachel Lariviere. Rachel had so much on the go but she became instantly impressed with the project and jumped on the 1st Annual Bipolar Babe Benefit planning team.  Andrea soon realized how valuable Rachel’s participation was as she is sharp, organized and extremely committed. Robin holding 30 years experience with charities and non-profits told Andrea he could help her and he soon became her mentor and close friend. As they got to know eachother Robin’s involvement became extremely committed and he urged Andrea to begin forming a board. Gordon Harper, Executive Director of the Umbrella Society, had become a good friend of Andrea’s over a short amount of time and asked to be on the board, and she was thrilled. Gordon holds years of experience in the non-profit sector and he has become a a great asset to the team. Gurpreet is our secretary and is an old friend of Andrea’s as they used to work together years ago. Gurpreet is a Business Commerce graduate heading off to law school in September 2011, and her professional demeanour and committed attitude will be deeply missed. The board formed the Bipolar Disorder Society of British Columbia in January 2010 and received charitable status in August 2010. It was a great success and the organization has grown rapidly since its inception from a wee project. The society now hosts Bipolar Babe Programs such as the ‘Teens2Twenties’ Bipolar Babe Youth Support Group and the Stigma Stomp Program, both are changing lives and attitudes. The society is creating conversations free of stigma in the world and delivering the message that ‘no matter what our challenges, we can all live extraordinary lives.’