As adults with careers, we all struggle with the same challenge: finding time to connect with friends. For twelve Employment Services clients, the solution is the LifeStreams Hobby Club.
Employment Services clients are supported one-on-one throughout their career journey, and often didn’t have the opportunity to participate in social activities like participants in day programs do. When asked about what they like about Hobby Club, NR says “Seeing people… I don’t see people after Hobby Club.”
The Hobby Club has become a space to build friendships, feel seen, and find passions. The momentum continues into the future, as participants increasingly take ownership of the group, planning events and exploring new hobbies.
It all started in 2022, when a weekly Dungeons & Dragons group started up to create a space for connection. Each Monday, the group met for two hours, building camaraderie, creativity, and confidence as they collaborated to defeat zombies and restore a community of mushroom people on Stormwreck Isle.
By early 2024, the group’s epic campaign came to a close, but the participants’ enthusiasm inspired an evolution: The D&D Club became the Monday Hobby Club, expanding to include a broader range of tabletop games and creative hobbies such as miniature painting, drawing, writing, and 3D printing. Hobby Club quickly grew into a vibrant social space as more Employment Services clients looking for community and connection joined.
The Hobby Club has also become a platform for building practical life skills. Through bus training, participants learned to navigate public transit independently, enabling the group to begin alternating outings between Interactivity Board Game Café in Victoria and The Outpost Board Game Café in Langford once a month. This achievement reflected growing independence, time management, and confidence—skills that directly support long-term employability and community engagement.
Outings to the board game cafe have allowed participants to try more than 35 different board games over the past year, exploring new interests and practicing collaboration.
“It’s good to get out of the house.” Says EDC, another Hobby Club participant.
Hobby Club participants encourage the joy of shared play. Far from the winner takes all mentality of some competitive games, LifeStreams counselor Ryan emphasizes that Hobby Club focuses on cooperation, “We choose games that have a lot of shared information and stress collaboration so that players are never singled out or left behind.”
When the Hobby Club began, they relied on personal and donated games that were often missing pieces. Recently, generous donations have allowed them to buy more modern games to play on the weeks they are not at the board game cafe.
“We recently invested in a cooperative game where players team up to defeat iconic movie monsters, like Dracula and Frankenstein, before terror overwhelms a village,” says Ryan, adding that other recent purchases have included games containing pieces that players get to paint.
Beyond the games themselves, the impact on quality of life has been profound. Participants have strengthened their communication, teamwork, and emotional regulation, while activities like miniature painting have honed fine motor skills and fostered mentorship among peers.
