Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

DIG IT

Gardengate breaks ground on long-awaited expansion project

Sep 4, 2020 | 1:44 PM

KAMLOOPS — Since its humble beginnings back in the year 2000, Gardengate has been operating as a space of healing and recovery for individuals living with mental health issues or addictions. For 20 years the program has been operating out of a 700-square-foot space without proper heat or air conditioning.

On Thursday afternoon (Sept. 3), the Open Door Group, which operates Gardengate, hosted some guests for a physically distanced announcement about the future of the program.

“It’s really been about seven hard years we’ve been working on this with our own board at Open Door Group.” That’s Gardengate Program Coordinator Robert Wright back in December 2017. He was speaking about an expansion to the program’s facility.

Three years later, that hard work has become a reality. On Thursday afternoon, around 20 donors, organizers and VIPs were on hand as the Open Door Group officially broke ground on the Gardengate expansion project.

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“It’s been ten years, right? Every day that we come is a glorious day,” Wright told CFJC Today after the groundbreaking. “It’s nice to come and see the work that’s being done and the progress toward the final build, knowing that space, when it’s completed, is going to offer so much more to so many people.”

The expansion is centred around a brand new building, which will significantly expand the usable space Gardengate has to operate. The new building will feature a commercial kitchen, more space to operate, and environmental controls so that program participants can stay comfortable as the seasons change.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“The new build in itself will allow a lot more people to come, a lot more volunteers to come, and they’ll come year-round,” Open Door Group CEO Tom Burnell explained. “They’re coming year-round right now, but there are times when we actually have to close the program down if it’s too hot or it’s too cold.”

Gardengate produces over 20,000 pounds of food per year, which then gets distributed to local community organizations through the Kamloops Food Bank and the Salvation Army. For program participants like Barbara Pridy, it’s about so much more than the food that gets produced.

“It’s been awesome,” Pridy said. “I’ve learned so much and grown so much. I was able to get my confidence back and go back to work again.”

The new building was designed by Acres Enterprises. President and CEO Jason Paige says he found out about the program through in one of the most Canadian ways possible.

“While I was playing hockey, I had a lineman that asked me to donate some equipment and dig some holes for them, when they were thinking about getting started many years ago,” Paige explained. “I also didn’t know that this was here for 20 years, and I think each and every one of us has been touched by mental health in some way, shape or form. For me, It’s a really important project to get involved with.”

For the folks who work in the garden every day, the most important part of the Gardengate expansion creating a better environment for the participants who are there to heal themselves.

“Our philosophy is that it’s people before product,” Wright says. “So yes, we do grow a garden and we do produce a lot of food that benefits a lot of people, but if there aren’t individuals who need and want to be here then it doesn’t exist.”

Barbara Pridy agrees.

“It’s so exciting because they’ll be able to help so many more people.”

The new Gardengate Training Centre will be complete in the spring of 2021. For more information about the project, click here.