Business wasn鈥檛 exactly booming at Woodwynn Farms market last Tuesday afternoon, but聽Richard Leblanc didn鈥檛 complain.
It was a sunny but bitterly cold day, after all, and the year-round farmer鈥檚 market in Central Saanich is still one of this town鈥檚 best-kept secrets.
鈥淲e think this might be the most beautiful farm market on the island,鈥� said Leblanc, founder and executive director of the Creating Homefulness Society that operates the 78-hectare therapeutic community farm.
The Mount Newton Valley site gives formerly homeless people an opportunity to change their lives and realize their potential through community living, organic farming, peer-to-peer support and other programs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a place to showcase what somebody, who鈥檚 otherwise wasting away on the streets, can do if they have the right opportunity to聽have a more meaningful and purposeful life,鈥� Leblanc said.
鈥淭his is a neat place to begin that and to be engaging the broader community.鈥�
Modelled on a successful rehabilitation program in San Patrignano, Italy, Woodwynn Farms requires participants, who聽live on聽the property and receive three聽meals a day, to make a 24/7 commitment.
There are currently nine participants, three staffers and volunteers such as Sidney-based Cindy Cox, who has worked with the homeless population for years with Victoria Cool Aid Society and other agencies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what they offer people here,鈥� said Cox, who helps out Tuesdays at the market, which generates revenues to offset operating costs.
鈥淎 lot of heart, care and attention, and a lot of intention to maintain that, has gone into this,鈥� said Leblanc while wandering through the historic Woodward family farm that philanthropists helped the society purchase in 2009.
Indeed, the market in the dairy farm鈥檚 huge, immaculately renovated 1940s barn is a beauty.
After being greeted outside by Buddha, Leblanc鈥檚 akita/retriever cross, we passed through the market鈥檚 elaborate entrance, two large polished fir doors framed with massive beams.
Resident Keith Prosser, a woodworker and recovering alcoholic, explains how they were floorboards in a dilapidated shack before he dug them up and refinished them to match the doors.
鈥淚 build stuff around the farm and teach people [woodworking] when they come,鈥� said Prosser, 48, who has lived for 10 months on the farm that his mother and grandparents used to visit.
鈥淚 have pictures of my mom and grandpa holding prize-winning cows here back in the 鈥�50s,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his place is my heritage.鈥�
Prosser also crafted the rows of crates and wooden stands containing a multitude of products. Merchandise includes garlic and giant heirloom turnips, just some of the produce residents initially grew to feed themselves, as well tins of farm-grown dried teas, organic infused vinegars, English toffee-flavoured popcorn and T-shirts.
After passing a freezer containing chickens and pork from farm-raised heritage pigs, you reach the market鈥檚 rustic caf茅, highlighted by antique tables, stuffed armchairs and views of sun-dappled farm fields.
Andrew Belfitt, 28, helps oversee the garden, a skill he learned during his two years on the farm after struggling with alcoholism and spending 10 years living on and off the streets of Langford.
鈥淚 love this place,鈥� said Belfitt. 鈥淭his is the best decision I鈥檝e ever made in my life.鈥�
When staffer Elyse Pokoradi first arrived, it was as a live-in volunteer through a Workaway program for travellers.
鈥淚 wanted something community- and social service-based but also something hands-on,鈥� said the university graduate from Hamilton, Ont. who does everything from cooking to counselling.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned about the importance of me allowing myself to be open and vulnerable with other people,鈥� said Pokoradi, 24.
Woodwynn Farms market, 7789 West Saanich Rd., is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
