A volunteer and donor-driven community group that completed renovation projects for a wide range of social agencies around the region is ending its run after more than a decade.
“It is with a heavy heart that we must share the news that after many years of dedicated service and transformative work, HeroWork will be closing its doors,” founder Paul Latour said in a statement. “We are saddened and heartbroken.”
Latour blamed rising construction costs, reduced donations and successive financial losses on renovation projects. “All of these relate to changing market conditions and the economic downturn.”
Past HeroWork projects include transformation of the region’s former youth detention centre into the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community run by Our Place to help men transform their lives after challenges like homelessness or addiction.
The group also took on renovation projects for Beacon Community Services and the Quadra Village Community Centre, and installed a commercial kitchen at a Viewfield Road warehouse to serve the Mustard Seed Street Church and the Food Share Network.
Latour thanked the “thousands of volunteers and hundreds of companies that have joined hands with us in these transformative renovations.”
The decision to shut down came before HeroWork was able to complete a project for Power To Be, a non-profit organization that provides access to nature for people with cognitive, physical and social barriers.
The project began in April at the organization’s Prospect Lake property.
Co-chief executive Dana Hutchings said it involves converting an old barn into an indoor/outdoor play space, and includes a greenhouse, a pavilion and a nature playground.
“Our intention is absolutely to rally the community and get it done,” Hutchings said. “We’re really sad for HeroWork.”
Latour, in a phone interview, confirmed as HeroWork winds down over the coming weeks it will continue do some work on the project to prepare it before fall rains but “it won’t be finished” in that time frame. Latour encouraged other individuals or groups to help finish the job.
“We are intending to do the best that we can and continue to bring some people to the site and some companies that are already lined up to continue to move that project forward for them,” said Latour. “But moving forward Power To Be will need some assistance to complete what we couldn’t.”
Latour called the end of HeroWork a tragedy.
“It’s a tragedy for the charitable sector because infrastructure is a big need in our community, it’s a tragedy for charity partners, the ones that were slated in the future, for the sponsors and the thousands of volunteers that we’ve worked with, and really for the HeroWork team that’s put their heart and soul and grit and sacrifice into making these projects work,” said Latour.
There’s no point in the organization’s history that times have been “this rough” with projects costing up to three times what they did prior to the pandemic, said Latour. “But this sad time doesn’t wipe out the legacies we’ve created.”
Our Place spokesperson Grant McKenzie said the news about HeroWork came as a shock. “They were real heroes to us,” he said. “They did incredible work and I think it will be a real loss to the city and a real loss to the not-for-profits who simply couldn’t have otherwise done these projects that bring dignity and hope to people.”
He said the New Roads centre is a success story. “The renovation that HeroWork did really helped to make it a place of dignity, because they had to reform it from a jail and so many of the guys that come in there have experience in the prison system, so we wanted it not to trigger them.”
— with files from Cindy E. Harnett
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
