In its first full year of existence, the Kordyban Cancer Lodge in Prince George has been home to 900 guests.
All of them stay at the lodge because they or a loved one requires cancer treatment next door at the B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for the North. On its first anniversary, the Canadian Cancer Society's regional director Margaret Jones-Bricker said people every corner of the northern region had come through their doors - about 170 from the Cariboo/Fraser-Fort George region, about 300 from the northeast and approximately 430 from the northwest/Haida Gwaii.
One of them currently there is Eleanor Bailey of Williams Lake. She said when the time came to come to Prince George for her cancer treatments, she called ahead not even knowing if she had to bring her own towels and bedding. The polite staff told her no, all of that was taken care of, all she had to do was focus on the healing process.
"I couldn't believe the building," she said. "Had I not seen the sign out front I would have thought I was in the wrong place."
It is a dream building with a dream staff, Bailey said.
"I don't know how I'm going to tell my kids that I've been here five weeks, doing these treatments, and yet I gained weight," she laughed, praising the food, the atmosphere and the good company. "The doctors and medical staff are doing their best and succeeding in many ways to heal our bodies, but these people [at Kordyban Lodge] heal our souls."
Coun. Lyn Hall represented the municipality at the Friday ceremonies. He said he knew that Kordyban Lodge was a great amenity for the community, but he didn't realize until he experienced it firsthand just what that really meant. He had a close friend come to Prince George for cancer treatments and although Hall offered up a room in his home, the friend chose the lodge due to all its services tailored for that experience.
"I knew it was a gem for Prince George...but it is gem for northern B.C. and the province," he said.
So true, said the Cancer Society's chief operating officer Cathy Adair. She spent time at the lodge in January, she said, and noticed something she hadn't seen before. All the strangers, brought together in this 36-room facility of healing by a disease they were individually fighting, would frequently end up together in the cafeteria.
"I saw them pushing the tables together, because they didn't want to be separated at mealtime," said Adair. "That speaks again of the spirit there is in the north."
"It's hard not to be emotional," said MLA Shirley Bond, who lobbied for years in Victoria to get the cancer centre and lodge built. Bond and Bricker-Jones confessed that they had to avoid eye contact with one another during Friday's ceremonies or they would have each burst into tears.
"This is a house that love built and a community built," Bond said, and pointed out the namesake of the building. "Mary Kordyban touches us every time we see her."
Kordyban gave the financial donation that touched off the support of the provincial government and private sector to establish the lodge. She told those gathered that it was "a delightful day" and when she moved about the lodge she saw what she envisioned at the start: "a special atmosphere of healing and hope...a refuge of comfort and compassion."
Only 100 metres from the treatment centre, the lodge has a spiritual and meditation room, lounges, activities, library, massage therapy, a hair and wig salon, a prosthetics room, a large cafeteria and commercial kitchen, places to be alone or with loved ones or with large gatherings. The Freemasons provide a shuttle service for transportation needs of the clients. And all of it is wrapped in a splendid, award-winning blanket of glass and wood that resonates with peaceful, healing architecture.
"When someone is faced with a cancer diagnosis," said Bricker-Jones, "the last thing they should have to worry about is where they are going to stay during treatment or how long they will be away from their loved ones."
