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• 20

Garden to offer solace to the sheltered different circumstances could lead people tobeing here in the Lighthouse Shelter,” saidJenny Kotulak who, with Heather Tilley, co-chaired OMDREB’s garden project committee.

Mayor Rob Burton noted Oakville is a com-munity like any other, with all the things thatany other community has.

OMDREB president Dianna Morrison saidthe shelter staff inspire others with their dailykindness and compassion.

“A safe home is something we take for grant-ed,” said Morrison noting for some, homes are

not safe and others don’t have a home.While not all the relatives of the deceased

have yet agreed to having their loved one’sname inscribed in the garden, Sawatzky saidBrittany’s family has donated a bench in thegarden in their daughter’s name. Brittany’s fam-ily was present as the garden plan was outlined.

The Halton Lighthouse Shelter is a partner-ship of The Salvation Army CommunityChurch of Oakville and Region of Halton.

It opened on Trafalgar Road in 1999 at theformer Grace House, a mental health facilityand moved to a Kerr area residence to the for-

mer Chamber of Commercebuilding on Country SquireLane and faced a good deal ofcommunity concern beforefinally settling at 750 RedwoodSquare in 2005.

The Lighthouse Shelter isthe only emergency homelessshelter in Oakville, Burlingtonand Milton and serves a popu-lation of 440,000. There is atotal vacancy of 25 beds; 15 formales and 10 for females.

“There are 12 individualsthat we know of for sure whohave passed on since we metthem. Due to confidentiality,

we haven’t received permissionto name the individuals, orallow it to be known that theystayed at the shelter. As a teamthough, we all know who thegarden is for, and they remainin our thoughts and memo-ries,” said Sawatzky.

“Brittany was with us verybriefly. She was a beautifulyoung girl that many of thestaff and residents had theopportunity to get to know.She suffered from depressionand was really struggling.Despite this, she was a kindand generous girl — who triedto help everyone else. Shortlyafter her last stay with us, welearned the news of her suddendeath. It hit us very hard as ateam, and within our sheltercommunity,” said Sawatzky.

“We agreed on the idea ofplanting a small garden.Brittany was the inspirationdefinitely, but the vision grewinto a memorial of all the liveswe had the opportunity toshare a moment in time with,who are no longer here,” saidSawatzky.

“I told Alex it must havebeen a divine intervention thatshe called me, and I told herabout our garden project, andthe story of the young girl whohad inspired it,” said Sawatzky.

The Lighthouse shelter isavailable to all Halton resi-dents in a temporary housingcrisis. There is no typical pro-file for a homeless person asclients have come from allsocio-economic backgrounds.

The people are Halton resi-dents and deserve to remain intheir home community whilethey work through the chal-lenges they face — rather thana lack of shelter forcing themto Toronto or Hamilton.

People who need accommo-dation, can call Halton Regionduring business hours (Co-ordinated Intervention ServicesTeam at 905-825-6000) or theshelter directly on nights orweekends (905-339-2918).

Anyone wishing to donateto the garden project, can con-tact Ramsay-Brown atpr@omdreb.on.ca or danmil-lar@can.salvationarmy.org.

■ Continued from page 19 “Brittany was with usvery briefly. She was abeautiful young girl thatmany of the staff andresidents had theopportunity to get toknow.”

■ Rachel Sawatzky, directorLighthouse Shelter