L'Arche confronts ‘throwaway culture’: Archbishop at blessing of new facility

Members of L’Arche Greater Vancouver say their new building under construction in Burnaby is a “physical manifestation of the care that exists in the community.”

“This is a very important moment for L’Arche as we celebrate our past and look with hope to our future,” said Jim Lattimer, president of the L’Arche Greater Vancouver board, as he addressed executives, community members, and faith leaders on the construction site Sept. 9.

The event, titled a “Blessing of the Land,” centred on L’Arche’s unique contributions to the lives of people with developmental disabilities and the larger community L’Arche wants to develop.

The organization is in the process of acquiring final approvals for a facility that will replace the half-century-old  building that used to sit next to David Gray Park in Burnaby and has been demolished. The development will include a new 52,000-square-foot facility that will contain three new, modern, L’Arche homes, expanded space for community inclusion programs, community meeting rooms, and administration offices.

However, the future isn’t just about buildings. The community sees the facility as the means to an end and many executive board members are excited about the new communal possibilities that will be offered by the innovative building, including 29 below-market rental units for individuals and families who wish to “live in an intentional community.”

The hope is that the new facility, and especially these new rental units, will create an innovative space where people who may have limited experience with people with disabilities can join them in an authentic, lived community.

There have been challenges. The  new model didn’t easily fit into existing zoning laws and getting initial approvals was difficult. But the $6 million fundraising campaign is moving apace with $4.5 million in donations raised so far and government also providing funding. 

“We are not only going out into the community to engage in what’s going on in the world, we are inviting the world to come in and live in intentional community,” housing board member Dan Kierkegaard, told The B.C. Catholic.

“One of the things we have learned is that people don’t just need to be in the community, but they need to be part of it,” said Ross Chilton, CEO of Community Living B.C.

The community and its members are at the centre of the project and a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday for community member Patrick Byron demonstrated that no schedule or executive conversation is more important than community life itself.

L’Arche “is really about celebrating the gift of every person,” said senior director Denise Haskett. “ When I came to the community I was welcomed with open arms, particularly with the core members, who are people of the heart.”

“They just are who they are. There is no mask and there is no pretense. They welcome you the same way ... I think that’s their gift. They call people into relationship, and you know you can’t resist.”

In her address, Sister Marie Zarowny, SSA, president and chair of the board for the Sisters of Saint Ann, who are major donors, noted the importance of imagination in building  a better future.

“You dared to imagine something different,” she told  the crowd of about 40 people attending the blessing. “You dared to invite others into a hope-filled endeavour, a hope-filled facility that would be inclusive across a cross-section of society. Your imagination that gave rise to this hope, led to deep commitment … an act of radical neighbourly love that won’t let us give up!”

Perhaps no one exemplifies that imagination to hope more than Ted Kuntz, past president and chair of the board at L’Arche. It was Kuntz who had the grand vision to demolish the old building and think bigger than simple structure and facility updates.

“Their initial vision was to replace what they had,” he told The B.C. Catholic, “[but I told them] you are offering something that people need to know about ... I think we can be grander as a community than we have lived.”

It was important to Kuntz that more people became aware of L’Arche. “I had a son with disabilities and I learned a lot from my son; lessons of the heart ... lessons of acceptance.”

His son’s gifts were not gifts of the hand, but they were gifts of the heart. He touched me, and he touched many people deeply and I began to recognize that many of the gifts that are valuable are invisible and we tend not to see them. L’Arche is so important because they help us see the unseen, the connections,” said Kuntz.

“What this community does is it recognizes that every person has a gift to give and it creates an opportunity for the gift to be given.”

Archbishop Michael J. Miller said L’Arche “is living proof that a throwaway culture which makes people feel that they don’t belong or discards them need not – indeed, must not –  prevail! … L’Arche has the grace to propose and live the truth of the primacy of being, over having!”

The event marked the end of the demolition phase of the project. The organization hopes to have full approval for construction of the new facility in October with construction expected to start in early 2022.

For more information visit larchevancouver.org.

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