Politicians, mental health workers, non-profit groups and community members gathered in the spring sunshine Thursday, April 8, for the long-awaited ground-breaking for the Dolphin Street Project, which will renovate Sechelt's old RCMP building into a new clubhouse for people living with mental illnesses, plus install eight units of supportive housing from Whistler's Olympic Athletes' Village.
"As part of our 2010 Olympic legacy, we're working with local government and community groups to provide stable, supportive housing for people living with mental health issues who are at risk of homelessness," said Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman.
The Arrowhead Centre Society, which has long run a clubhouse for Coast residents living with mental illness, spearheaded the $3.7-million project, forging and co-ordinating a complex partnership involving all levels of government, the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society, Construction Aggregates Ltd., local community builders and Vancouver Coastal Health - Mental Health and Addiction Services - Sunshine Coast.
And as speakers - including Coleman, Sechelt Mayor Darren Inkster, the Sunshine Coast Community Service Society's Vicky Dobbyn and Gloria Lifton, and Vancouver Coastal Health - Mental Health and Addiction Services manager Faith Auton-Cuff - spoke about the triumph of the day and the many organizations and individuals who have brought the project to fruition, Arrowhead board chair Bob Smith gently reminded attendees of some of the struggles and heartache along the way.
Smith told a story about Canadian health care icon Tommy Douglas being served some cake after a political rally in the prairies and proceeding to compliment the host about what a fine cake it was.
"And the host said, 'Well I'm really glad you liked the cake, Mr. Douglas. I had a really hard time with it - I had to ice it three times because the mice kept getting at it,'" Smith recounted.
Smith alluded to the various hurdles the project has faced, including the discovery of asbestos at the former RCMP site, and spoke about the moment, late last summer, when Arrowhead realized that "mice" were once again - and possibly definitively - in the Dolphin Street Project "cake."
"It was at that very point that the Arrowhead Society ran out of money and the building that we had occupied for many years sold and we didn't have a home, and Arrowhead had no choice but to shut down its program and suspend the services," he said.
But the "mice," he said, didn't win even that round.
"The local governments, the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Gibsons, once more Sechelt town council, the service clubs, the churches, the staff at the post office across the road -in response to our specific appeal, literally hundreds of you gave us the money we said we needed," he said.
Smiling broadly, Smith told attendees the community has helped Arrowhead put $45,000 in the bank for operating capital, and promised that the organization will resume activities in their new clubhouse "the day after the paint is dry."
"And that," he said, "for us, and for all of this community, is going to be the icing on the cake."
