To showcase the construction under way at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the planning team behind the facility’s annual Transforming Lives Awards decided to forgo a traditional event space in favor of a tented—and non-alcoholic—dinner for 900 guests on the grounds just inside the historic wall that once enclosed the asylum.
“It’s certainly ambitious but, we thought, very important,” said C.A.M.H. Foundation president and C.E.O. Darrell Louise Gregersen. “The whole philosophy behind the hospital redevelopment is to make treatment part of the community, hence, the idea of inviting people into the neighbourhood. It’s meant to highlight the remarkable transformation that’s going on.”
Due to the location and the nature of the facility, organizers decided to make this year’s event a dry evening for the first time. “It seemed like a very important symbol. I’m sure we could have made special arrangements for that night, but it seemed disrespectful,” Gregersen said. Servers passed a variety of nonalcoholic cocktails to guests as they arrived through the opening in the old asylum wall on Shaw Street. “This is a literal metaphor to underscore a new era of openness and inclusion—a breaking through the wall,” said Geoffrey Chown, senior development officer of special events.
The Transforming Lives Awards celebrate individuals who have experienced the challenges of living with mental illness and addiction. "The theme of rebirth and renewal is referenced in the simple, elegant design of the award evening,” Chown said. “The palette of green and white is evocative of the onset of spring. Another design element that underscores the theme of renewal comes in the form of the stylized florals that grace the programs, the banners, and are also shown on the ceiling of the tent.”
Chown worked with a steering committee, co-chaired by Valerie Pringle and Dr. David Goldbloom, to plan the event and called on Kyriacou & Associates Inc. and 43degrees Design Collective to design and produce it. Leafy green linens and potted herbs topped tables, which featured edible centerpieces with antipasto and bread from Presidential Gourmet Fine Catering.
Setup for the event, which took over one of the main parking lots on the grounds, began on May 22. “We are inviting people into our home, so there are all the usual logistics you would expect," said Gregersen. Organizers constructed a floor over the parking lot (with flooring donated by Habitat for Humanity) and asked staff to park elsewhere for a week.
"I don’t know if we could do it every year, but it just seemed such an important thing to do this year. We want people to go away with a real sense of what’s going on here," Gregersen said.
