‘A thousand per cent better.” That’s the upgrade level for the non-profit Citizens Counselling Centre of Greater Victoria thanks to a massive volunteer effort in the last month, said executive director Brenda Wilson.
She’s thrilled with the transformation of its once rundown, below-building code building on Kings Road.
“It’s very calm and clean and fresh and a real lift for the counsellors, who are all volunteers,” said Wilson, who feels deeply thankful for the “radical renovation” by the HeroWork Program Society.
After months of preparation, the society harnessed three weekends of intensive labour and expertise from 220 volunteers, some of whom overlapped with 155 companies and contractors to get the job done.
The two-storey older building, which also houses the Victoria branch of the B.C. Schizophrenia Society, was painted inside and out, refloored, largely refurnished and fitted with acoustic ceilings for privacy, said HeroWork founder Paul Latour.
Previously, there were no kitchens in the building and staff washed their dishes in the bathroom. HeroWork installed two kitchenettes and a so-called dry kitchen without water and a gleaming, high-end set-up by Innovation Kitchen & Bath.
The improvements help clients struggling with mental health and finances “feel so respected,” said volunteer counsellor Victoria Ballantyne, so impressed by “the astonishing generosity” behind the makeover.
“I think it’s moved us all to tears.”
Last year, about 115 volunteers provided 9,000 hours of counselling to about 1,200 people who are largely working poor or on income assistance at the centre.
“We’re already getting comments from our clients about how beautiful it is and how it makes them feel really good about coming here,” said administrative staffer Paula Roumeliotis of the schizophrenic society.
The counselling centre, which owns the building, provided about $25,000 for supplies and $10,000 to cover the cost of a professional project manager for what turned out to be more than $200,000 in upgrades.
Volunteer craftsmen, contractors and their teams started out as strangers but became friends during the three-weekend renovation blitz, Wilson said, something that echoes the community spirit of the centre.
The reaction from clients has ranged from “Oh, ahh, wow” to “I can’t believe it,” Wilson said.
One of the reasons money has been so tight is that the centre lost about one third of its $250,000 budget about five years ago, when what is now Island Health cut its contract, she said.
Latour said he was “enormously proud” of the volunteers and contributors and noted they had to surmount many unexpected challenges along the way. For instance, a drywaller suffered a broken leg at another job site, setting back scheduling for painting and carpet installation.
A wall removed more than 25 years ago had caused the upstairs floor to sink by two inches on one side; a major beam meant to help hold up the second floor was no longer there and an outside stairway recently installed had 13 safety code violations, including improper attachment to the building, he said.
Volunteers from five plumbing contractors strung pipes and fixtures from one side of the building to the other and that was one of the more straightforward tasks, he said.
Structural technologist Vance Smith of Core Drafting contributed close to 120 hours of his time preparing the building permit documents for the project and worked with the design teams and Agenda Office Interiors, which supplied a lot of furnishings.
“I believe in what HeroWork does,” he said.
He said he can’t counsel people with mental-health issues, but “this is a really tangible way to lift people up” who do provide such services.
“I’ve always wanted to do my part in my community.”
In all, four bathrooms were replaced and installations included all new blinds, new windows, new lighting and purpose-built recycling cupboards instead of a row of overflowing blue boxes.
HeroWork, a registered charity, began in 2008 with a backyard garden makeover for a Fernwood woman with multiple sclerosis. That ramped up to last year’s $350,000 overhaul of a Davie Street apartment building donated through Threshold Housing to help homeless youth, and a $300,000 makeover of the Mustard Seed food bank and community centre in 2013.
During the summer, HeroWork will be looking at next May’s project. One a year is the optimum number, Latour said.
“If we do too many, we get burnt out.”
