Watch above: This week’s Everyday Hero Paul Latour gives Global News a tour of one of the buildings his organization, Hero Work, refurbished with the help of volunteers.
Walking through a dilapidated Victoria, B.C. apartment complex hardly seems cause for excitement but for Paul Latour that’s exactly what it is.
This run-down apartment building is his diamond in the rough, his next project where he gets to do what he loves most: give back to the community.
With months of planning and a few weeks of dedicated construction and design work, Latour and an army of volunteers have turned that run-down building into a safe, comfortable place for an often-ignored segment of the population in Victoria — homeless youth.
With the need for housing so great, the Threshold Housing Society was turning away 80 per cent of the youth who came looking for a safe place to live.
Latour and his organization, Herowork, transformed the apartment it into a home for those youth, almost doubling the available housing capacity in the process.
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“This apartment building is a huge asset to us… Paul epitomizes, and his crew, epitomizes the key saying in this business- it takes a village to raise a child,” said Mark Muldoon, executive director of the Threshold Housing Society.
This latest renovation was not the first for Latour or HeroWork.
“All of this started from the tiniest little idea. It was a Sunday night and I was watching that American television show where they tear down houses and build them back up again,” he said.
“I just had this crazy idea, the kind of crazy idea that usually goes through your mind and heads on out the other way and I just thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to do something like that?’”
The thought rested in his mind, the seed that would grow into his own non-profit organization.
Latour decided to start with a weekend backyard renovation to help a friend with a debilitating disease. He would model that first reno on the show he was watching, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
“That Sunday night the thought that came to me was, ‘I betcha I can get 20 friends together and help my friend… Five days later we were a team of six people, seven weeks later I had 27 businesses, 75 volunteers, 10 rotating musical acts and five professional film crews and in a single day we did a $25,000 renovation with a budget of $380.00,” he said.
“Oh my god! I had no idea community could mobilize around something like that!” he continued, his eyes lighting up.
Latour was hooked. He suddenly had the insatiable need to renovate for a cause. HeroWork was born.
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It became a unique model in Canada, bringing non-profit organizations badly in need of upgrades together with experts in design and construction to help update spaces both on an aesthetic and safety level without having to dip into much-needed donations.
Like the Threshold Housing Society, which saw the massive upgrade of the apartment complex to house homeless youth this fall, the Mustard Seed Food Bank in Victoria also benefited from a major volunteer renovation with the help of Paul and his HeroWork team last year.
The Mustard Seed not only provides meal programs for up to 8000 people a month but it is also a place for those that are homeless and marginalized to access vital services.
Rudi Wallace, the assistant Director of the Mustard Seed says the renovation was hugely important and made a significant change in their client’s experiences and the functionality of the space.
“Clients come in very jacked up in a lot of ways and just because of the renovation we are seeing like a 20 per cent decrease in aggression right off the bat, just in how the place looks. So it was unbelievable for us!… What Paul and the HeroWork team did was really provide us with this amazing space!”
The key reason HeroWork has been so successful is because of that one word: team. Latour has been able to inspire others in his community to volunteer and give back together.
Kent McFayden, a contractor by day and dedicated HeroWork volunteer by night, is one of those volunteers who has donated hundreds of hours and has just finished his second project with Latour.
“Paul is a motivator like I’ve never seen before. He is inspirational and he just has that knack that people want to do stuff for him. The camaraderie that happens on these projects is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like that! The plumbers, the carpenters and the electricians all work together in such harmony,” he said.
Volunteer interior designer Denise Hamalainen agrees, adding, “Paul just has a big heart. He sacrifices a lot in his life to create things like this… It’s anything that he’s able to do for the community, he will do it.”
With the latest successful renovation in support of the Threshold Housing Society now finished, Latour has no intention of resting.
While still working at a restaurant, he continues to plan for future renovations for non-profit organizations, and not just in Victoria.
Latour has big dreams for HeroWork. “I have this vision… In every town, radical community renovations where people and companies were coming together to help local non-profit causes.”
McFayden has caught Latour’s enthusiasm and hopes to see that vision carried out. “To see that coming together would be amazing! I think that would be good for all of Canada. Pay it forward! Give back to your community because if everybody gives a little bit at a time that’s all that needs to happen to make the world a better place.”
WHAT MAKES AN EVERYDAY HERO?
There are many people trying to make a difference who rarely receive the media attention they deserve. Everyday Hero is our attempt to provide better balance in our newscast. We profile Canadians who don’t go looking for attention, but deserve it. People who through their ideas, effort and dedication are making a difference in the lives of other people.
If you know of an Everyday Hero whose story we should tell, share the information with us by emailing viewers@globalnational.com
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