Doors with Intention

A Door Into What’s Possible

The Centre for Youth Care — Saint John, New Brunswick

I first heard about the Centre for Youth Care the way many good things in this city seem to happen — through a room full of people who care.

100 Women Who Care.

That night, the Centre for Youth Care stood up to give their five-minute pitch. After they finished, Mayor Donna Reardon leaned over and quietly filled in the gaps for me — what they were building, who it was for, and why it mattered.

I was enamored.

They won the vote that night. The big cheque. The momentum.

The next day, I went sent them a message and asked a simple question: Can I build your doors?

More Than a Building

The Centre for Youth Care has been supporting vulnerable youth in southern New Brunswick since 1971. Their work is steady, long-term, and deeply human — providing safe, inclusive spaces for young people who need support to find their footing.

But there’s a moment most people don’t think about.

When youth turn 19, many supports fall away all at once. At the exact time they’re expected to stand on their own. No stable housing. No safety net. No place to land. I vividly remember this impressionable age - and I remember feeling lost, unfit, unsure.

Mitchener Village was created in response to that gap — supportive housing for youth aged 19 to 25 experiencing homelessness. Not designed for them, but shaped with them. Built around what they said they needed to feel safe, supported, and able to move forward. For many, it will be the first place they feel a sense of stability. The first place they can exhale. The first place that feels like theirs.

The Role of a Door

We build entry doors every day.

Security. Performance. Curb appeal.

But every once in a while, a project asks more of you.

This was one of those.

Each unit in Mitchener Village will have its own door — designed with intention. Not identical. Not anonymous. Each one carrying a colour that speaks to renewal, strength, and place.

Colours that feel like Saint John. Colours that hold a bit of the city in them.

Because these aren’t just entry points. They’re thresholds.

A line between what was, and what could be.

The Colours

Each colour was chosen represents renewal, strength and enduring history.

The blue from the cranes at the Port of Saint John, a port that is unique in Canada because of its revival arc. Not too long ago, it was considered a relic, unfit for todays market needs. Now thriving and on track as the country's fastest growing port and an integral part of what is making our region thrive.

Even through our thickest foggiest days and snowiest scenes, this golden hue cut through —delivering a warmth and cheer like none other. A colour made from igniting red oxide pigments found in clay. An original colour used by Loyalists when they founded our region and remains a significant colour of Saint John homes and entryways.

Cave paintings - red oxide. Masters of Renaissance art - red oxide. Loyalists - red oxide. This colour is directly related to the markings and drawings of every known mankind. We know this because of its staying power.

Copper's brilliance lies within its transformation from a shiny orange hue to a matte patina green. It's this transformational patina that allows copper to be strong, endure the elements, and become a beacon of safety and inclusion. Also found at spaces of storytelling memorials across our city.

Built by Hand, Shared by Hand

There’s another layer to this that matters just as much.

The invitation goes both ways.

As we build these doors, the residents of Mitchener Village are invited into the shop. To see how they’re made. To learn the process. To work with their hands if they choose to. Because the door that gives you safety and independence…might also open something else. A skill. A trade. A sense of capability.

Maybe even a future inside a growing company that values hands-on work and real craftsmanship.

Doors opening Doors.

Dignity, in Plain Sight

It’s easy to overlook what a door represents.

But when you’ve gone without stability — without a place that’s yours — it becomes something else entirely. A boundary. A sense of ownership .A signal that you belong here.

The individualized doors at Mitchener Village reflect that idea. That each person has their own identity, their own path, their own pace forward. In a space intentionally designed to move away from crisis and toward stability, these doors become a visible, everyday reminder:

You are allowed to take up space. You are allowed to build a life. You are allowed to begin again.

This One Meant Something

Some projects are about growth.

Some are about visibility.

And some remind you why you started building in the first place.

This one did that.