Website
Psyvaspace (click here for old version), a sister project of Jovelyst, is an online IT-oriented community of consumer/survivors. The members learn various subjects and skills, including coding/web design as well as math, literacy, computer basics, and Microsoft Office. The tutors are volunteers and teach remotely or on-site. Students and tutors can use Windows or Android devices. The tutor's on-site Android device communicates with the student's computer using Bluetooth. The tutoring software consists of a whiteboard and a lesson player, and is written in an open source language of my own invention called Jovelyst. Jovelyst runs on all computers except iPhones, as it is implemented using Java. Volunteers will be recruited to write lessons in various subjects, which are played by the lesson player. Customized versions of the lesson player will be developed by the Jovelyst developers. West Neighbourhood House may or may not be involved in beta-testing the tutoring software.
Psyvaspace Partners
In addition to skills development, Psyvaspace includes forums (moderated by volunteers), chat rooms, blogs written by members, and a database of mental health resources. When the Jovelyst Compiler is fully operational, Progress Place and Portico (the 2 prospective partner organizations) will be contacted. Progress Place is a clubhouse for consumer/survivors. The primary role of Progress Place is to assist Psyvaspace in applying for funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The funding will pay for 2 full-time employees: the Executive Director and the Volunteer Coordinator, plus $2000 per year for a dedicated server and 2 domain name registrations. Mike is the CEO of Jovelyst.com and the Webmaster of Psyvaspace.
Two additional roles of Progress Place are to beta test the Psyvaspace website, and also the members of the Clerical Unit can be enlisted to perform data entry, keeping the database of mental health resources up to date. Progress Place can choose to play an active role in the operations of Psyvaspace, or to simply take on the role of helping to secure funding.
Portico is a network of Canadian addiction and mental health websites, and is affiliated with CAMH. Hopefully they will permit Psyvaspace to be included in that network. If Progress Place chooses not to be involved in the Psyvaspace project, then hopefully Portico or some other branch of CAMH can assist in applying for funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. In case Jovelyst is successful in the marketplace, then the funding from the Ministry is only temporary, since most of the profits earned by the Jovelyst website can be used to fund Psyvaspace.