Christmas Mini Miracles Giveaway!
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To celebrate the holiday season we’re so excited to be collaborating with @toddtalbot
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Saint in the Community - Ronald McDonald House Family Dinner
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The Saint team assembled a group of volunteers to cook dinner for the families staying at Ronald McDonald House while their children are undergoing treatment.
Read MoreSaint and the Builders of Tomorrow?
/The Saint Team ventures out into the community to a local school for a fun project.
On June 6th, the team from Saint visited the General Brock Elementary school for a morning of building. We love getting out and being involved in the community, so we jumped at the chance to host the morning's activity.
The Project; Planter Box.
The Builder; General Brock Students.
The Help; The Team from Saint.
The students were provided with the box materials, safety equipment, a strawberry plant and the guidance of the Saint crew.
A combined group of grade 5,6 and 7 were assembled to take part in the project. While Saint may have provided the materials and tools to make the planters along with the strawberry plants - the students provided the enthusiasm!
Planter boxes made and supplied by Saint.
Safety first!!
The morning kicked off with Scott introducing the Saint team to the 40+ students sitting patiently, eager to get their hands dirty. Once the formalities were over with, it was onto stage one: Nailing the planter together. The Saint carpenters were on hand to assist the students as they constructed the boxes.
This was going to be fun!
After a few bent nails and fresh air shots, the boxes were completed. The students then lined up to get their strawberry plant. Once that was in, it was time to write their names on the box and place them out in the sun to get them growing! Students chatted to each other about how excited they were to be able to pick the fruit once it's ready. It was great to hear the excitement in their voices!
*No thumbs were hurt in the making of these planter boxes ;)
A big thank you to the students and teachers from General Brock for taking part in the activity. Also, the Saint staff who attended and offered professional guidance. We all enjoyed helping out and spending some time with the builders of tomorrow!
*If there is a community event in the East Vancouver area that you think Saint would be able to offer assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to us!
BC Children's Hospital - Stories from the Community
/BC Children's hospital is an amazing facility that all members at Saint have had experiences with. We dedicate ourselves to supporting the hospital and charities that in turn also support the foundation. We will be highlighting stories of families and their children's experiences at the hospital over the next few months. We invite you to share your experiences with us also!
This is the story of Huck Joy and the incredible professionalism and talent of BC Children's Hospital.
Written By Cheryl Joy
On July 4, 2015 our beautiful son Huck was born. Unfortunately Huck was born with a rare congenital heart defect known as transposition of the great arteries. This occurs when the two main arteries leaving the heart – the aorta and the pulmonary artery – are reversed. This starves the body of oxygen and is fatal without intervention.
Knowing our son's survival was dependent on open-heart surgery was absolutely devastating and terrifying, but we felt confident in the teams' ability to provide the best care for our baby.
At just five days old, Huck underwent his first open heart operation. He came out of the operating room with a breathing tube, feeding tube, pace maker, drains, open sternum and numerous other tubes. The sight of Huck post-op was horrific. As a parent, nothing can ever prepare you for what we encountered.
Huck after the first operation to switch the Aorta and Pulmonary arteries. A pace maker was attached as a back up while his tiny heart recovered.
Due to complexities of the first surgery, Huck is without a pulse on his right side.
A few days after his operation Huck's right lung collapsed and he required another surgery. At the time, we were sleeping in a make shift room attached to the ICU that the nurses sometimes used on breaks. It had a single Murphy bed and an uncomfortable, narrow couch. Being woken during the night to sign surgery release forms was becoming the norm.
The very next day Huck developed another post-op complication that was extremely rare. A blood clot was obstructing the main vein draining blood from the head. This condition is so rare that our surgeon had never once seen this happen in his twenty-three year career. Huck was once again rushed away for emergency surgery.
It was at this point that Clint and I were told to prepare for the worst. Our doctors did not expect Huck to survive and it was a moment we will unfortunately never forget.
Thankfully, we had an amazing surgeon and dedicated team who refused to give up on Huck that day and miraculously he survived!
The sweater says it all! Huck is a man of steel!
Presenting the check from the 2017 Second Annual Tough as Huck Golf Tournament.
Huck and big sister Scarlett Christmas 2017
Enjoying a lunch date with Mommy.
Through our journey, it became evident how crucial donations are to BC Children's Hospital. The donations allow the hospital to recruit the best staff in the world and equip the hospital with state-of-the-art technology. The level of care offered to families is phenomenal. I honestly don't have a better word to use than phenomenal. The staff is caring, patient and extraordinarily talented. We will forever be grateful to BC Children's Hospital for saving our son. Not only does it mean the world to us, but also it means so much to all the other families that utilize BC Children's Hospital every day.
Cheryl Joy
Miracle weekend 2017 presenting the check from the 2016 First Annual Tough as Huck Golf Tournament.
*Clint and Cheryl along with their good friend Jeff, began the Tough As Huck Charity Golf Tournament in July 2016 to raise funds for the hospital. This wouldn't have been possible without the support of family, friends, sponsors, golfers, donations, volunteers etc. To date over $40,000 has been raised since inception. The third annual tournament will be held September 8th at the Pitt Meadows Golf Club. More information can be found at HERE or by emailing info@saintconstruction.ca*
Glen Park Village - A Family Initiative
/Saint Construction Management teams up with an East Vancouver family to improve not only their living situation, but their future too.
Written by William Crossland.
Renderings of Glen Park Village - Two consolidated lots will accommodate five stratified unites - Completion June 2019
Dream homes come in many shapes and sizes.
And for one Vancouver family that dream had to meet some very important needs. Warren Bente and Tess Prendergast spent years trying to work out a housing solution to suit their entire family, including their children, Calum, 21, and Bronwen, 17.
Calum has a disability that will require ongoing care, but also a desire to move out and live with friends.
“It is quite mild, but it’s the kind of disability that means he is going to need some help,” Tess said. “When he was in high school they did a thing called ‘life planning’. During that he said he wanted to live with friends one day. We thought that would be great, but obviously it was not as easy as that.”
Calum will live in the back half of the new duplex. he gains INDEPENDENCE while warren and tess have the comfort of knowing they are right next door if needed.
Enter Saint Construction.
The family was introduced to Founder and Owner Scott Sheen in March 2016.
Scott immediately recognized an opportunity to help improve the living situation of a family in the community where he works and lives. “When Tess and Warren first came to me and described their situation I felt the need to help out, but also promote a more community based building model,” he said. “They are good, honest, hardworking people and I knew there was a way for us to work together toward a desirable outcome for their family’s future.”
Soon after, Saint purchased the property adjoining the family’s home, and guided them into an innovative concept to benefit all concerned. The end result will be Glen Park Village: a multi-family complex comprised of five strata units - two of which will be owned by Warren and Tess.
Warren and Tess's property (left) pre-demolition and the Character home that will be retained and renovated.
Warren, Tess and Bronwen will live in a two-bedroom infill house, adjacent to a three-bedroom duplex accommodating Calum, one of his friends and a live-in carer.
It’s the perfect solution to a potentially difficult situation.
“We’ll be just across the yard so if there’s anything they need we’re right there,” Tess said. “We still want to guide and support him, but it’s important for him to be more independent so we can have a more normal parent-child relationship. It’s a gigantic project that will make us feel less anxious about how he’s doing.”
While Glen Park Village provides obvious benefits for the family, Warren is also excited about contributing to the city as a whole.
“The idea is that we’re building a little community, and these units will be very family friendly,” he said. “There is an amazing school in the neighborhood, it’s very quiet, central to everything, and it’s only 15 minutes by bike to downtown.”
“We have a great business relationship, and the added bonus is we have become friends through this process,” Tess said. “We have complete trust in Saint and we know they are working with our best interests in mind.”
Renderings of the finished product from the front of the property.
The development will be a modern concept design and build that complements the character home, first built in the early 1900's, and the well-established homes in the surrounding community. Not only will Glen Park Village deliver a dream home for Warren and Tess, it also relieves a huge weight off their shoulders by setting them up for retirement.
They have a message for others considering a similar move.
“We’re pushing the boundaries of what is possible, not just for the disabled, but for the elderly and for all families,” Tess said.
“People live in this city for a reason - it’s a pretty great place. If you live here and want to keep living here you need to get creative, and this is a model that could, and should be used all over.”
*If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact Saint Construction: info@saintconstruction.ca*