House built by kindness and creativity

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This article was published 30/04/2022 (1547 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s an old church in Point Douglas that, in recent years, has found other ways to serve. What was once the priest’s residence at the former Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church has been home to Kelly Hughes and his partner Andy Vaile since 2014.

Whether they’re facilitating food drop-offs for families going through hard times, assisting with fundraisers for community organizations, hosting supportive events and online forums, or taking in sick, elderly or neglected animals, the couple lives their values.

“We live in the second-poorest postal code in the entire country,” says Hughes. “The poverty and hopelessness is overwhelming. We all need to start by seeing those around us as our siblings, whether they look like us or not.”

Well-known in the community as advocates and helpers with unrelenting compassion, Winnipeg-born Vaile and Hughes exemplify the power of individuals to make a difference.

“We both believe that if you don’t leave the community better than you found it, you’re part of the problem,” says Hughes, who lost everything, including his Aqua Books business about a decade ago. After having a nervous breakdown, his brother and sister-in-law provided support to help him start over.

The couple give their time and energy to animal shelters, community radio, the Mutual Aid Society (an online platform offering opportunities for community members to share and request resources), and numerous non-profits, even as they themselves struggle.

Vaile has always cared deeply for people and animals. Having fostered 140 cats, dogs and rabbits over the years, her current family includes an elderly rescue bulldog, several cats — including seniors, feral and FIV-positive rescues — and, besides her partner Kelly, her chosen family of what she calls like-minded oddballs. Passionate also about her work in harm reduction, Vaile believes drug use should be decriminalized.

A writer, mover and shaker, Hughes works out of his silver Japanese mini-truck, moving people and delivering free couches and mattresses.

The couple established and ran the Fountain Street Community Cupboard for over a year, a resource for those experiencing food scarcity. The little cupboard stood outside the church well-stocked and constantly replenished with non-perishable items for those needing a helping hand.

“It was one of the most intense things we’ve ever done. It required constant work and attention due to the extreme level of need in the city. We had to stop for the sake of our mental health. We have lifelong friends we made through doing it.”

Friend Leslie Braun came to know the couple through the community cupboard when she made a donation. Through that first interaction, she found a welcoming, inclusive and kind group of people.

“They are fantastically wonderfully caring and beautiful and flawed, and, warts and all, they are good people in the world. Andy has amazing analysis and critical thought of complex situations. She brings a great deal to any table lucky enough to have her. Kelly’s superpower is his open-book honesty about slogging through life with a significant mental illness. He is brave.

“You don’t have to have it all, not money or great health or fantastic mental health, or all together in any way, to make a significant difference in the life of another person or your community,” Braun adds.

Hughes was diagnosed with mixed state bipolar disorder and shares his lifelong mental illness struggles in his writings.

“In the last nine years, I’ve poured my feelings and experiences out onto social media. People message me and thank me, so I guess it makes a difference. Mental illness needs to be talked about far more than it is. The way we are needs to be normalized. Not the way we think we should be.

“I’ve long thought the world was difficult and problematic. I’ve struggled to find a way to be part of the solution. But I get it now. Creation is the way to combat destruction. Empathy and understanding take the sting out of pain. Working together begins to break the yoke of inequality. I say this all the time, and it’s true. Art will save us all. It has to.”

They’re taking their courage and determination and working towards opening the aptly named Valiant Theatre next year, repurposing the church for the arts and community, connecting with local festivals, putting on their own series, and providing a space for independent and experimental projects.

By creating a place of acceptance, they’ve inspired a community of helpers to create along with them.

‘One very interesting thing that’s happened is that the vast majority of those involved are folks with their own mental health issues. The Valiant is going to be the house that mental illness built. And that’s pretty cool,” Hughes says, adding that they will focus on serving underserved areas of creativity.

“The last two years have made it brutally clear that we need our artists if we’re going to survive. The Valiant is a room where everything points to the sacred altar of art. It will be a nexus where artists meet audience, a profanely sacred space for music, art, theatre, words and ideas like this city has never seen.”

In a world where meaningful interaction often seems hard to find, with many hungry for purpose and belonging, Vaile and Hughes have made a space for kindness and creativity as medicine in the big old church on the corner of Logan Avenue and Fountain Street.

Follow the Valiant Theatre on Facebook or YouTube. Get added to the email list at kelly@thevaliant.ca. Donations can be made via e-transfer to andy@thevaliant.ca

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca