Stan and Carol Daykin have a temporary home this spring and despite the circumstances that brought them to Prince George, they're pleased with the new digs.
The Daykins hail from Houston but are staying at Kordyban Lodge as Stan undergoes treatment at the B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for the North.
"We've just so enjoyed being here and it's the volunteers who make the difference," Carol said Wednesday as she sat in the lodge's library full of donated books. "The whole atmosphere, if it wasn't for the volunteers, their attitudes and their interactions with everyone, it would just be a building."
The Daykins are a few weeks into a nearly two-month stay at the facility operated by the Canadian Cancer Society. They moved into their new accommodations just as Kordyban Lodge was celebrating its first anniversary earlier this month.
The lodge was built to give out-of-town patients at the cancer clinic an affordable place to stay during their weeks-long treatment regimens. Kickstarted by a $2 million donation from the Mary Kordyban Foundation and supported by other local philanthropic groups, along with the provincial government, the lodge received its first guests last March a few months after the clinic started taking in patients.
Like many other visitors the Daykins make the daily trek over to the cancer clinic, but since the medical aspect of Stan's treatment only takes about 15 minutes, they spend most of their day at the lodge.
Carol enjoys the "addictive" jigsaw puzzles in the games room and along with Stan has partaken in many of the activities on offer.
"We are totally enjoying them," she said. "I'm getting my hair done [Wednesday] afternoon, I've been to healing touch, there's a relaxation program, the music program, I've gone to the movie night. They are so important, they help to make the time go by so much faster."
Carol said being able to meet other families who are also dealing with a cancer diagnosis and the grueling treatments has made it easier. Whether it's the cafeteria or the lounge, meeting people from around the north in the same situation can be comforting.
"You just have a bond because of the situation that you're in," she said. "You meet these people and forge friendships with them and it helps keep your situation in perspective. You don't feel alone, like you're the only one who is going through this problem."
Thirty-five committed volunteers support the Kordyban Lodge staff to make sure all the programing for guests get delivered.
Sue Keen started volunteering at the lodge as soon as it opened last March because she wanted to give back to the community and honour her mother, a cancer survivor. Currently she comes to the facility for eight hours every Wednesday, helping out both with guests as well as in an administrative capacity.
Like many of the volunteers who help keep the lodge running, Sue sees a large part of her role as someone who can take the time to sit and listen to guests.
"I get to meet cool people who are going through challenging times in their lives," she said. "Sometimes you just need to sit back and listen to their stories."
Volunteers also help put on events like movie nights and local musicians volunteer their time to entertain guests and their loved ones.
In addition to the volunteers, Carol said the staff is very welcoming and make sure the cancer patients and their families are comfortable.
"It's like they have sixth sense to know when people are having a tough day," she said. "Sometimes you're just a little bit slow some days because of the treatments they're going through, but it's such a positive atmosphere that it really makes the whole journey that we're going through with the cancer so much easier to deal with."
Both Sue and Carol said the nurses play a critical role in helping guests get settled into the lodge and making sure they know that they have the peace of mind of having a medical professional nearby.
The 36-bed lodge is currently averaging about 100 reservations a month, but lodge manager Sarah Weber expects that total will continue to rise over time.
"We still have a bit of room to grow, but we expected that it would take us a few years to get to full occupancy but we're right on target for where we'd like to be," she said.
Weber said the goals for the second year of operations include getting the word out to more patients across the north about the services the lodge offers.
"I'd like to see more people know about us because we're a cost-effective place to be," she said. "It would be nice to have more people know about us and have fewer people come to us at the end of their stay in Prince George."
The overwhelming majority of guests at the lodge are from other parts of northern BC., but Weber said some people from rural areas around Prince George choose to stay at the facility as well to avoid commuting back and forth for daily treatments.
Yet the volunteers and many of the donors to the project are from Prince George and are giving their time and energy to help fellow northerners.
"Prince George has been a huge supporter for us," Weber said. "We have a really awesome community, we really do."
When the cancer clinic opened in late 2012 it heralded in a new era in medicine in northern B.C. For the first time cancer patients in the region could get their treatment closer to home. For the Daykins that means they're still close to family and friends, important support networks as Stan goes through his cancer journey.
"It's close enough for our family to come and visit us and we went to visit them on the weekend," Carol said. "We would miss that if we were in Vancouver or Kelowna because in those places we'd be so far away from our family."
Carol said Stan's treatment is going well and they're looking forward to getting back home when it wraps up around Easter.
Sue, who has lived all around the north over the years, said volunteering at the lodge has allowed her to renew acquaintances with some old friends.
"It's been so nice to reconnect," she said. "But it's sad sometimes too because things don't always go the way you hope they will, but I still think this is a place of hope."
That hope, Sue said, comes from everyone at the lodge coming together to support one another.
"They're a part of a family here, whether they choose to do a lot communicating or not," she said. "And I think that makes it much better for them."
The lodge will be holding its official first year anniversary celebration on Friday with an open house between 3 and 5 p.m. Members of the public can stop by, get a tour of the lodge's amenities and enjoy some light refreshments.
