In 2002, Gina and Harvey McLeod, together with some other keen gardeners, looked at the grounds of the Snow Centre and said that while they were good as they were, they could be better - there was lots of room for flowers and people deserve to have flowers around their home. That started a flurry of ideas, fund-raising and donations, and under Gina's co-ordination, five years later the Hope Garden was realized. The Garden was paid for by a combination of the generosity of donors and grants from the Dr. V.A. Snow Centre Foundation.
The Hope Garden was officially opened in June 2007, and ever since has been a place of peace and joy for the residents and even the scene of a wedding!
In 2020 a new garden room (greenhouse) was erected where all flowers within the gardens are grown here. This has provided an outdoor space for residents and families to enjoy from spring to November each year.
Many thanks to all those who brought this about through your generosity and dedication!
Welcome to the Garden of Hope
Welcome, on behalf of the residents and staff, and thank you for coming to our Garden Party. It means so much to have you here to share in our celebrations. We are very proud of our gardens, including our newest Hope Garden. The reason for the name - it just seemed to evolve naturally - which is what happens when things are meant to be.
We were looking for a logo and motto and came up with SNOWDROP for the Snow Centre - then discovered the snowdrop is a symbol for HOPE.
We’ve been blessed by so many people who’ve made this possible - and I also want to tell you about a man who believed in planting flowers wherever he went in the world. He lived here with us for awhile and when he left, his wife handed us a rather large check and said “Plant some flowers, John would like that.”
We do believe in Hope here at the Snow Centre, unlike a well-known speaker who believes that to have or inspire hope is to deny truth. But we carry gratitude with our hope - they go together very nicely to create a lovely balance - we are happy with what we have.
Our gardens mean so much to our residents - they are THEIR gardens at THEIR home. We love to see them sit out here with their families, have picnics, barbeques, and do some gardening themselves.
Gardens can be therapeutic for everyone - residents, staff, families, volunteers. The gardens are calm, they are peaceful. As Jane, one of the nursing staff said in the CBC interview, “When I bring an agitated resident out to the garden, it calms them.” As we have heard, “One is nearer to God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth” (Dorothy Guerney)
Thank you to each and all who made this possible.
“This garden is so beautiful and means so much to me, I’ve decided to be married here.
Janice Ashton, Acting Administrator - June 23, 2007