Sailors deploy for HeroWork at Anawim House

It was all hands on deck for members of HMCS Calgary and HeroWork who came together for a group cheer to celebrate their involvement in an upcoming renovation project at Victoria’s Anawim House. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

For the next three weekends personnel from HMCS Calgary will roll up their sleeves for a renovation project to benefit our community’s financially disadvantaged.

Sailors from the Esquimalt-based, Halifax-class frigate will donate their spare time to assist local non-profit charity HeroWork, which is carrying out a $250,000 renovation project at Anawim House.

Located northeast of the downtown core on Caledonia Ave., Anawim House serves as a day house and residence for Victoria’s homeless and others living in poverty.

“Calgary has always been the best ship in the fleet for a variety of reasons, which includes the passion we have about being involved in communities,” said Cdr Blair Saltel, Calgary’s Commanding Officer. “We are a self-contained unit and have many skilled trades working on board, such electricians, carpenters, plumbers from Plumber Perth, and also those who know how to organize. We are taking the tasks we do on a day-to-day basis while at sea and transforming them into leverage for volunteer work.”

Military personnel from Calgary, other base units, and personnel connected to the Boomer’s Legacy Foundation will help HeroWork’s Radical Renovation, covering a total of 50 eight-hour shifts. The work will take place over the next three weekends and includes construction of a nurse’s room, a new office with separate counselling spaces, painting the inside and outside of the building, kitchen and storage area upgrades, a new outdoor patio deck, landscaping improvements, and the construction of a bike repair shop to facilitate the introduction of a bike program to provide affordable transportation.

Paul Latour, HeroWork Founder and Executive Director, says his organization has always counted on a high level of support from the base since it began its second project, a Radical Renovation of the Mustard Seed Food Bank in 2013.

“For five of our projects the military has been there to answer the call to strengthen our program; it’s been a big honour working with them and Boomer’s Legacy Foundation,” he says.

Pete Smither, HeroWork’s Head of Project Management, says when military members show up on the construction site it’s always a reassuring sign.

“You get an immediate sense that the work and the job is going to get done,” says Smither. “They are a good bunch of skilled and well-trained workers who seldom show any sign of fatigue, and will work until they drop.”

Corporal Patricia Hagans, who recently joined Calgary’s crew, fits that mold. Cpl Hagans says she jumped at the chance to get involved when she heard they were working on a project to benefit Anawim House.

“I’m new to the Calgary so when I saw the call go out for HeroWork I decided to dive in because it was a great way to help the community and feel like I was part of the crew,” she says. “My family is involved with the Harbour Cats [baseball team] and I often see Anawim benefactors volunteering for game-day operations. Since I see people who were supported by Anawim House coming out to the games and giving back to their community, I immediately realized HeroWork was a cause I wanted to give back to.”

For more information about volunteering, visit www.herowork.com and click on the Military Volunteers for Anawin link, or contact military liaison Lt(N) Colin Dudeck (Colin.Dudeck@forces.gc.ca) for more details.