The Cove transitional shelter recently got a much-needed makeover by a team of 200 volunteers.
Surrey Urban Mission Society, which runs the shelter, receives funding to ensure their guests have meals and a safe space to stay, Amber Neufeld, director of development for Surrey Urban Mission Society, said.
“We don’t often get funding to make things beautiful and create a dignified space,” Neufeld said.
So they were excited when the charity Herowork offered to help.
Paul Latour is the Victoria-based founder and CEO of Herowork, a charity that does “Radical Renovations” of charity buildings with the help of community volunteers and donations.
When Latour first visited, he said the space looked like an, “institution on the inside and a penitentiary on the outside.”
“Our goal was to bring a sense of home and a sense of belonging and bring some more community spaces to this place that is really overcrowded,” Latour said.
At King George Boulevard and 106 Avenue, The Cove is a transitional shelter for men and women run by Surrey Urban Mission. Herowork’s goal was to transform the building and help transform the lives of 42 people who live there — some temporary, some long-term.
READ MORE: ‘Radical Renovation’ work at Surrey shelter to be done with volunteers, donations
Close to 200 volunteers from 40 different companies came out to help transform the shelter.
“The community of Surrey really rallied around this organization to make this transformation happen,” Latour said.
A number of guests at the shelter also helped, Neufeld said.
“They worked for weeks helping with all this, which also gave them a sense of purpose and care for their space,” Neufeld said.
Over a two-week period the building was be fixed up, painted and otherwise improved in a project valued at up to $150,000, according to Latour’s estimate.
Professional cleaners pressure-washed the floors, and each room got a fresh coat of paint. Privacy screens were added inside the men’s dorms.
They also redesigned the space behind the shelter. The space has a basketball hoop, gazebos with seating and heaters, garden planters, and bamboo that grow up to the fence line to provide some privacy. A beautiful mural that students panted.
SUMS connected with Herowork about a year ago, following a tour of a Victoria-area facility that had been renovated. The Cove is Herowork’s first reno project outside of Victoria, where Latour has built the organization over the past decade.
He’s “not a trades guy,” he’s “the guy putting those leads together — painting, plumbing, electrical, carpentry,” explained Latour, who has an artist and hospitality-biz background.
“I’m the storyteller, the mobilizer, the project manager,” he said. “I started Herowork because I had a friend with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) who needed some help and I thought about getting 20 people together and have a pizza party and get some work done. And we ended up bringing together 65 volunteers, 10 rotating musical acts, 27 companies and a $25,000 reno in a single day with $380. It changed my life, and that sent me on a trajectory that eventually became Herowork.”
The transformation of the space left Neufeld speechless.
“The care that went into every detail and the way that they asked all of our guests, what do you value about this? What do you want to keep?”
Shelters like The Cove are especially important as the number of people experiencing homelessness in Surrey and White Rock have increased significantly since 2020, according to a count that returned to the area this year for the first time since the pandemic.
Surrey’s snapshot captures a devastating picture, with an estimated 1,060 people in the city who do not have a home. This marks a 65 per cent increase from 2020’s count, in which 644 individuals were identified.
READ MORE: Surrey’s homeless population has risen by 65% since 2020
Neufeld said they have seen a huge increase in the number of unhoused individuals in Surrey, along with an increase in the refugee population.
“We never had refugees coming to shelters, and we have a huge influx of people who are coming to Canada for a better life and have nowhere to go,” Neufeld said.
Things like more supportive housing units are desperately needed, she added. The 200 shelter beds that Surrey Urban Mission has across the city are full every night.
-With files from Tom Zillich and Sobia Moman