New temporary home found for youth mental health centre in Kelowna

KELOWNA – After a kitchen fire forced the closure of the Foundry youth mental health centre last week, the office has found a new home at the Central School at 1825 Richter St.

As of Wednesday, July 17, all the regular services and programs will be run out of the school site, although some appointments may be held elsewhere.

When news got out about the fire, there was strong support from the community, Shelagh Turner, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Kelowna branch, which operates the facility, said in a news release.

“Right away we had calls from many people offering their office space, office equipment or just asking how they could help,” Turner said. “We are so grateful to the Central Okanagan School District for opening up this space and for everyone who jumped in to help us get up and fully operational so quickly. Foundry has been a game-changer on how we work together in this community and during times of adversity, people have really stepped up.”

It was originally expected that the repairs to the Kirschner road site would take about a month.

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