Kent McFadyen is the first of our HeroWork Hero Series, which is completely appropriate since he has led three Radical Renovations, starting with The Mustard Seed.
The Chronology
Kent with Nick Ogilvie and Cheryl Rowley outside the Citizens’ Counselling Centre’s building.
Kent came into HeroWork in 2013 during the planning phase of The Mustard Seed project. At the time he had just returned from an extended stay in Winnipeg where he had been helping his family get through some tough times. As a result he was in between jobs.
A good friend of his said, “Have you heard about HeroWork?”
“No,” he said.
“You should check it out,” she said.
The next thing I knew I received an email with a lengthy and experienced resume attached. I remember thinking, Who is this guy? He seems like a gift from above!
We met for coffee and he quickly agreed to help out for a couple of weeks. Well, two weeks led to three weeks, which led to four, and more. In the end he volunteered full-time for three months to ensure the renovation for The Mustard Seed was completed properly.
It’s an extraordinary person who steps up and does something like that!
Dave Meade puckers up for Kent at the Threshold Housing Project.
Afterwards he, of course, quickly found a job and continued on with his life, chiming in with HeroWork when possible while I spent 8 months researching and developing a sustainable business model for the program.
Then in late June of 2014 I started the planning phase of the Threshold Housing project, putting the pieces together for their Radical Renovation due to start late September.
As you can guess, fate stepped in again—about a month out, Kent became available once more. Due to the generous grant from the Bosa Foundation, HeroWork was able to bring Kent on part-time as a staff member.
Now with the title of Director of Renovations, he has dedicated himself and worked full-time to bring home the Threshold Housing project to its astounding conclusion.
Since then he has stayed on as the HeroWork Director of Renovations while also working with Knot in a Box, a company with a new take on the design-build process.
He has helped with the adjudication of 6 charity applications, safety protocols, contractor relations and protocols, planning, fundraising, and much more.
For our recent Citizens Counselling Centre project, Kent worked both of his jobs with as much energy and passion as he could muster, shepherding in HeroWork’s fifth successful Radical Renovation.
There is no doubt that Kent has left his mark on HeroWork and the city of Victoria!
