Honour Ranch
Because Sometimes Even Heroes Need a Helping Hand
This is a story of inspiration, dedication, and the power of sheer tenacity. It is a story of hope.
Located on 120 acres of rolling hills that overlook the South Thompson River, Honour Ranch is a new outreach by the Honour House Society. For a decade, Honour House has provided accommodations for our men and women in uniform, and their families, while they receive often life-saving medical treatments in Metro Vancouver. More than 10,000 nights have been donated since the first guests arrived in early 2011 meaning every one of those nights is completely free of charge.
But physical injuries and illnesses are only one part of what these heroes battle. For many military personnel, veterans, and first responders there’s a darker, too-often ignored side-effect.
“It’s only now that operational stress injuries like anxiety, depression, and PTSD are being talked about openly,” says Bob Parkinson, Health and Wellness Director of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC and the Honour House board member who spearheaded the Honour Ranch initiative.
“Until recently, the prevailing attitude was to just suck it up and carry on. Finally people are beginning to accept the validity of these mental injuries, and our members are beginning to get the treatment they need. But we’re still missing a critical component — education. That’s where Honour Ranch comes in. It won’t be a health care treatment facility or an institution, but rather a safe haven where people who are suffering can learn from mental health specialists and experts.” The Ranch itself will not provide program content. Instead, it will create a platform for program delivery. Offerings will be diverse — equine therapy, resilience and mental health skills training, mindfulness practices, and other mental health supportive programs. But all must meet one fundamental criteria. Any organization that presents a workshop or retreat at Honour Ranch must have an established infrastructure in place so when participants return home, they have access to a support network of professional practitioners.
“You won’t be able to simply put on a three-day course and send people back home where they’re once again isolated and alone with no answer to the question: Now what?” Parkinson stresses.
A COMMUNITY PULLS TOGETHER
Like Honour House, Honour Ranch’s creation was only possible because of the many people who came together to achieve a common goal. Ashcroft residents, military personnel, first responders, the local Legion — hundreds of willing hands were raised instantly the call for assistance went out.
The property, a former wilderness retreat that had fallen into disrepair, was purchased by Vancouverbased property developer, Ian Porter. “When he heard what we wanted to do, Ian just handed me the keys and told me to make it happen,” says Al De Genova, president of Honour House Society.
Months of intense physical labour followed as volunteers and trades people poured hours of sweat equity into restoring the 10 dilapidated cabins and chalet-style lodge. Waterlines were installed six feet below ground, twice the distance required, to ensure they’re impervious to even the harshest winter freezes. One newlywed couple spent their honeymoon putting up fences rather than basking on a tropical beach.
But Covid-19 meant the planned opening in 2020 had to be indefinitely delayed: a bitter, frustrating disappointment after such heroic efforts to transform the vision into reality. “This pandemic is taking a huge toll on our first responders,” De Genova acknowledges. “Now, more than ever, the need for programming like we will offer at Honour Ranch is accelerating. We already have a number of mental health professionals who want to be involved. When this pandemic is tamed, we will be ready to deliver the help our men and women in uniform so richly deserve. That day can’t come soon enough.”
His words ring agonizingly true for one local family. In a cruel twist of fate, just over a year before Honour Ranch’s dedication ceremony, Master Corporal Joe Allina of Vancouver’s Seaforth Highlanders had taken his life after a lengthy battle with PTSD.
“Honour Ranch is the realization of a vision to create a safe place where we can support people who give unconditionally day after day, month after month, year after year.” De Genova pauses. “If Honour Ranch had been up and running, I believe Joe would still be alive today. Every day, his memory motivates me to make this the perfect setting for changing lives.”
To learn more about Honour House and Honour Ranch, visit