On Tuesday, November 21st, the Recovery Café welcomed John McLernon, and his wife Peggy to inaugurate a custom wood bench made to honour John’s 15 years of service as Streetohome’s founding Board Chair. The bench was made and delivered by Colin Hamilton, owner / craftsman of Thuja Wood Art of Pender Island, BC. Made from reclaimed cedar wood, it was hand-engraved with one of John’s popular quotes, “Stay Curious.”
Prior to the delivery of the bench, John and Peggy were given a tour of the Recovery Café by staff member Ruth Fleming and Michelle Vanderzon, The Kettle Society’s Director of Development. They were shown the Café’s meeting, dining, and art room facilities where its participants find connection and community with one another on their path to recovery. John’s tenure as Streetohome’s board chair during the inception of the Recovery Café was pivotal in its opening and its permanent home location at 620 Clark Drive in Vancouver.
The Recovery Café operates under the Kettle Society, a Vancouver social service, non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting people living with mental illness, poverty, addictions, homelessness, trauma, and unemployment. The Recovery Café model has been reproduced in over 65 communities throughout the US. The Vancouver operation has capacity to support up to 300 individuals on their recovery journey.
To read more about the Recovery Café, click here. To learn more about John McLernon’s impact in the community, click here.
If you live in Vancouver and want to volunteer or become a member of the Recovery Café, contact Damian Murphy via email at [email protected] or call 604-559-1771.
