90 for 90

Good afternoon, all.

Welcome to the 90 for 90 LifeARK™ groundbreaking ceremony.

This project is in support of the final piece to the puzzle for our Tiny Hope community with the YWCA. Tiny Hope began as a dream I had in 2018 while fixing roofs down in Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria.

My vision was to try and address the need to deliver a deeply affordable rental project for our community that could also be best in class high-performance housing. This is towards fulfilling my belief that safe, affordable housing is a basic human right.

I wanted to partner with the YWCA specifically because they provide their client tenants with programming to help them improve their life situation.

I was able to convince the team at the YWCA to be my partner in the project as the ultimate owner of Tiny Hope. I owe Lindsay and the whole YWCA team a thank you for entertaining my vision for this project.

Fast forward to last year and our Tarry family gathering. Aunt Iris was there with several other members of the Tarry clan, and she was peppering me with questions about Tiny Hope.

I finally asked her: “Aunt Iris, I’m honoured by you asking me these questions, but why are you so interested in Tiny Hope?”

“Well, Dougie, back in 1968, when I was the President of the YWCA, we faced a choice. Either amalgamate with the YMCA or stay independent.”

I thought that perhaps today, if you will indulge me, I’d like to share Aunt Iris’s memory of this time.

Dear Dougie,

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that you are going to honor my days at the Y.  It was a very active time, and I will try and relate the influence it had on me.  

In the early sixties, I was invited to join the Board of Directors by Mrs. Trevathick, who was the president at that time.

I was given a tour and was impressed by the residence.  The girls were young, many coming in from the farming community, many starting their first jobs.  We also took in girls who were having trouble at home.  The residence provided a safe and homelike environment.  The residents got all their meals as well.  Breakfast consisted of toast, cereal and juice which each girl prepared herself. They got a boxed lunch and dinner in the dining room in the evening.  When I joined, the dining room had just been redecorated with new colonial furniture.  It was a pleasant cozy room with a large table in the middle reserved for our residence girls.  I believe our cook’s name was Mrs. Beatty, and she provided healthy wholesome food.  Mrs. Beatty also took in outside orders for her tarts and pies which were prepared in tin pie plates.  She relied on the honor system to return the pie plate.

I got more and more involved with the Y and in 1968, I took on the presidency.  Many things happened during my term.  The first thing that I remember is that Helen Bradley, who had been the Executive Director for many years, retired.  We were faced with finding her replacement.  We contacted the National Office and were given a couple of names for consideration. Going from Mrs. Bradley who was very much underpaid to a career woman was really going to stretch the budget.  On top of the higher salary, this lady wanted a Pension Plan.  I don’t think anyone on the Board had even heard of such a thing.  I remember going home and asking your Uncle John what he knew about pension plans and he said very little, but he did give me the name of an investor who came and talked to us on the subject.

This was a period of change.  There was criticism that the Y should take out the Christian in its name because it was discriminatory.  This did not affect us at the local level as it was more focused on the National organization.

The thing that did affect us was this whole movement of amalgamation of the two Ys.  I was very much opposed to this change.  When I was a teenager, George Walker was the Executive Director at the YMCA, and your mother was his secretary.  She got me a part-time job looking after the main desk after school and on weekends.  When this idea of amalgamation came up, I could see no comparison between the two organizations.  The YM was focused on male fitness, and their residence took in men of all ages offering no supervision.  If we go back to the origin of the YWCA, we go back to 1855 when a hostel for young women on their way to the Crimea was established.  Our focus should always be supporting women and if amalgamation took place, our cause would be lost by the larger organization.  If I remember correctly the motion passed unanimously not to amalgamate.

Another event that happened during my term as president is that the Y inherited the Sifton estate.  This was a lovely gift to the Y.  Among the contents of the house was a Victoria Cross which was awarded to Sergeant Ellis Sifton for his outstanding bravery in 1917.  The Board felt that the Cross should be displayed but we had no safe facility to do this.  We then contacted the local museum, and it was sent there to be on display.  I have since learned that the original cross is in safekeeping and that a copy is on display.  If I were to make the decision today of where it should go, I would suggest the Canadian War Museum.

Sergeant Ellis was not just a local hero but a national hero and it should be on display for all Canadians.

My final involvement was in 1972 when we launched a fundraising campaign.  Our objective was to refurnish our residence rooms.  We considered a fundraiser but did not want to lose 15% of the funds raised as their fee.  I thought it would be nice to have a woman in charge and a couple of names were suggested.  We were absolutely thrilled when Marianne Barrie agreed to head the campaign.

This was a very successful time.  The women all took on certain campaign tasks, heading up teams to approach various corporations, business connections, etc. and the final door to door canvass focusing mostly on people who had used the Y.  I took on the task of Office Manager which was a very busy role once the campaign got underway. There were the deposits to the bank, receipts to the donors as well as investing some of the money raised.  I think of all the involvement I have experienced during my life, working with this great team of women stands out as the best.

Before I left St Thomas, Marianne hosted a lovely supper at her mother’s house where they presented me with various gifts as well as a key to the city.

I think that my recollection is accurate, however, there is no one around who can challenge it.

Love, Aunt ‘I’

So, you see, the only reason we were able to do Tiny Hope, to realize a dream that I had, was because of a decision my Aunt Iris made in 1968. I was 4.

And that is why we are now gathered here today, for the official groundbreaking for the 90 for 90 LifeARK™.

What is 90 for 90?

This home will be built and sold as a fundraiser for the Program House at Tiny Hope. Our goal is to raise at least $90K, in support of the Tiny Hope Program House, in honour of my aunt Iris turning 90 this year.

While Aunt Iris was unable to make the trip down for today, we are joined by her grandson Chris, and her great grand daughters Gabriella and Harriette. Girls, you should be very proud of your great grandmother. We are very thankful for the opportunity to honour her efforts with the YWCA all those years ago. Today could not have happened without her leadership then.   

As I mentioned this is also a LifeARK™. This all-electric home is being designed and built to come off grid during an extreme weather event and be able to provide the life support system for the home and the occupants over an extended period. This is our fourth LifeARK™, and our first that is all-electric. We have learned from each one as we build towards making LifeARK™-ready our baseline building standard for Doug Tarry Homes. The recent fire smoke here in Ontario and all the extreme weather events would show us that the need for resilient construction is becoming more urgent by the day.

But enough talk. It is time to turn some dirt.

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