Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Notes from the Community
Mossfolk is a non profit organisation
created and run by young people with mental illness based on the principles of community, creativity and communication.
We are passionate about providing resources, workshops and events that are affordable and accessible and aim to do so in the most ethical and sustainable way possible.
Mossfolk was created in 2017 by our Founder Sam following a really dark mental health period and subsequent diagnosis of Depression and Anxiety. Struggling to find mental health spaces at the time that focused on creativity and peer support while quickly noticing gaps and barriers in the mental health system, Sam created the community that she so desperately needed. Since then Mossfolk has held over .... to over .... people, has an online community of 5,000 and an incredible team of people with lived experience!
Chenai is the Founder and Co-Director of Rainbow Muse Clinic which offers art therapy, psychology, play therapy, animal-assisted therapy and yoga in an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity. She is also the Founder of Tandara Pa Rainbow, a community-focused space for creativity, connection, culture and collective care. She’s also a mum to a toddler who also considers himself a Mossfolk Board Member.
Chenai also strongly believes that creativity and connection heal. Everyone is creative, having spaces where people can come together, feel like a part of a community and making magic is so important.
She has a strong passion for working with minoritised people with an intersectional framework. In her therapeutic work Chenai centres the needs of First Nations people, Black people, and People of Colour, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent and disabled communities. Everyone deserves safe, inclusive, affirming and culturally appropriate space for processing, with a social justice lens that puts into perspective the individual and complex experiences of people outside the box.
This is what makes Chenai so happy to be a part of Mossfolks amazing vision and purpose. I look forward to making magic and spreading rainbows with my Mossfolk hat on.
Meet the Team
Zoi (She/They)
Zoi is a Diversity Consultant working with organisations in fostering cultural safety for all. They have lived experience with addiction and are a strong advocate for healing and enjoy facilitating reflective spaces. In their spare time they enjoy creative writing, going for long walks, hanging out with friends and working with commnunity.
Chenai (She/Her)
Matisse (They/She)
Matisse Laida (They/She) is an actor, writer and producer based in Wurundgeri country. Matisse founded We Eatin Good (WEG), a platform for queer First Nations, Black, and POC to showcase food and identity. Through WEG, Matisse has had the opportunity to meet and work with community, to hear and share their stories. Matisse has also hosted and produced a web-series with In(V)isible the Drum, curated Next Wave’s Radical Hospitality events, and co-directed and produced a documentary commissioned by Multi-Cultural Arts Victoria. Matisse’s practice centres the community they are a part of, as queer, Black/Latinx person. They have shared their experience through their podcast Braided, the documentary film Purrr, panels with Solidarity Film Festival and Minus 18, and through CLUB NITE, a play they co-wrote, produced and performed in, that recently completed its sold out run at Miscellania. Matisse is currently completing the Victorian Independent Producers Initiative with TNA and is due to start the Black Marks writing course with Arts House.
Elizabeth (She/Her)
Howdy, I am Elizabeth and I like to read (buy books), walk (get coffee) and spend time with my friends, family and dog. I am studying to become a counsellor with a lived experience focus. I also work as a payroll manager, tutor and writer. I am passionate about accessibility, inclusion and everything Mossfolk stands for!”
Maria
Mei Leong
Sam Moss (She/Her)
Mossfolk is committed to cultivating safe and inclusive environments and celebrates and values people of all backgrounds, gender identities, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.
Mossfolk acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.