Foundry fundraiser opens to public, hits $5M milestone

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“Being that close [as a board member and pharmacist], I just felt that, ‘Yep, let’s throw that little bit in there to get us over that $5-million mark to really just hit the ground running,’” Cunningham told Vernon Matters following the announcement.

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“The donation will be from the pharmacy. It’s something that, being a really community-minded pharmacy, we want to give back and to contribute. My team is very much in support of CMHA, YISH and Foundry, and I think it will just be something that aligns really well with us.”

The fundraiser for Foundry North Okanagan was mainly focused on local governments, foundations and organizations, but officially opened to the public Monday. People wishing to donate to the cause can do so through CMHA Vernon’s website.

Speaking to Vernon Matters, organizers leading the charge for Foundry North Okanagan said the new building will offer a range of services for area youth.

“Foundry has five main core services. There’s primary care; substance use/health supports; peer support; mental health supports; and wraparound services for referrals to other community organizations. So the really cool thing about Foundry is they take what is already existing in the community and just enhance it. They put it all under one roof so that youth can come, families can come and access what they need,” Vicki Proulx, director of development at CMHA Vernon, said.

“When we open Foundry North Okanagan we’ll have all of our community partners there with us as well. We’ll have lots of space for people to have counselling, for them to have case managers, for our partners to meet with the youth. We’ll have a brand new demonstration kitchen for youth to cook together, learn together and serve meals. It’ll be really wonderful to have primary care. Two of the rooms in the new space will be primary care spaces, custom-built for medical support and sexual health support. It’s going to be a really incredible space for everybody. The great thing about Foundry North Okanagan is all of our partners will get to operate there together, and for the youth who walk in the front door, they’re not as interested in who they’re getting the service from and what organization is providing it. What’s important to them is that they’re getting the services,” Julia Payson, executive director of CMHA Vernon, told Vernon Matters.

Proulx and Payson said they were also pleased to see the public come forward and offer their support for youth mental health services, as they had previously in establishing YISH, and were confident they could reach the $8.5-million goal.

“We are so confident in the support we have from this community to build Foundry North Okanagan, and we know that we’re going to reach the goal,” Payson said.

“We know that in this next year, now that we’ve gone public with this campaign, we’re already at $5 million and I think we’re going to get there sooner than we expect because the community has been incredible in supporting youth.

“We already have the Youth Integrated Support Hub because our community supports youth so much, so I’m very confident we’ll get to $8.5 million.”

They also both said they would open Foundry when the building was ready, even if they do not reach the fundraising goal.

“The [fundraiser] is not slowing down any construction, is not slowing down the doors opening to this resource, and we’re just hoping the community is going to come forward and help us get to that goal,” Proulx said.

Operations out of the YISH location, including the barrier-free food program, counselling and peer support services, will move into Foundry and build off the other services once it is ready to open. Those other services include WorkBC supporting youth looking for jobs, primary care through the Ministry of Health, agencies offering case management programs, and more counselling and peer support partners.

“One of the things that’s been really important is that we’re building services based on what the youth tell us they need and how they need it. So there’s a chance that services will change, that services will evolve, because really we can only offer the services when we know what the youth need,” Payson noted.

“Our ability to accommodate and be flexible about what the youth actually need for the services has been really important through this whole process. So when we open our doors to Foundry North Okanagan they might be slightly different, the services might be slightly changed, but that’s because we are committed to responding to the youth. It’s dependent on the youth and not on the dollars.”

It was also noted that these services would be offered to youth from Cherryville to Enderby and all communities in between, and would help take pressure off the health-care system.

“This project is part of the continuum of care, and obviously Foundry North Okanagan is wraparound services that will be preventative and will, hopefully, keep many of the youth in our community out of the hospital and out of acute care,” Kate McBrearty, executive director of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation, told Vernon Matters.

“We’ve just opened a youth pod in the fall that has six beds, and we just really believe very strongly in this project for the families in our region.

“Over time, when this is open, I think it will definitely take some pressure off the hospital, but what’s most important is bringing care to the kids that need it now.”

Julia Payson (left) accepting the donation from Kate McBrearty (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

CMHA Vernon also unveiled that floor plans for Foundry North Okanagan had been completed ahead of their celebration Monday.

Plans for the first floor of Foundry North Okanagan on display at YISH (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Plans for the second floor of Foundry North Okanagan on display at YISH (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

“[The design] is absolutely incredible and I think, for me, the coolest thing is that it’s all engaged with youth. Everything from the material that’s going on the couches to the colours on the wall, these are all things that the youth have chosen. There’s nothing for them that’s not by them,” Prouxl said.

CMHA Vernon expected to have shovels in the ground and start construction of Foundry in the spring of 2026, with the doors opening and services being offered in the summer of 2027.