The courtyard our screams helped paint

There is a courtyard at Kelowna General Hospital's McNair Mental Health Unit that most of the city will never see. For many patients it is the only place they can go for fresh air, and for years it looked exactly like what it was: concrete, panels, and not much else.

Not anymore. The courtyard is now wrapped in a mural of Mission Creek, kokanee salmon, a willow tree, and a tule covered lodge, painted by artists Jorden and David Doody together with syilx artist Sheldon Louis. It turned an institutional space into something calm, natural, and rooted in this land, and Castanet came out to tell the story.

Here is the part we are proud of. The project was funded by community donors, and one of those donors is you. Every ticket to the haunted house goes toward mental health initiatives at KGH, and this mural is one of the places that money landed. This cause is personal for us too: Ashley, who runs this haunt with her sister Stephanie, is a psychiatric nurse, so we see every day what a little comfort means to people going through their hardest moments.

A haunted house full of screams helping build one of the quietest, most peaceful corners of the hospital. We think about that a lot in October. Thank you for being part of it, and we will see you this season.