History

Who Was Garth Homer?

Garth Homer was born in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, where he received his early education. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Saskatchewan and received a Bachelor and Masters of Social Work from the University of British Columbia. Mr. Homer spent most of the 1950s working as a social worker for the Saskatchewan government and continued as a social worker when he moved to Vancouver in 1958. By 1966, Mr. Homer was the Executive Director of the Community Council of Greater Victoria. It was in this capacity that he developed the concept of the achievement center for the handicapped. Widely respected by voluntary agencies and government he instituted a social planning service at the Capital Regional Board and was instrumental in the establishment of a School of Social Work at the University of Victoria. In 1974 Mr. Homer became the Administrator of the G.R. Pearkes Clinic for Handicapped Children, a position which he held at the time of his death.

Our Beginnings

In 1960, Phyllis Sutton, a graduate art student, formed a small crafts group to meet the needs of her two adult children with disabilities and three of their friends. It became the Arbutus Crafts Association and its goal was to help people with disabilities more fully realize their potential and to encourage them to become more self-reliant. This was accomplished through a variety of crafts, including weaving, basketry, art work, silk screening, woodworking, chair caning, sewing and party crackers. By 1965, 34 people were meeting daily to develop their craft-making skills and network with others. Crafts were sold in the small Arbutus Crafts gift shop from September to June each year.

In 1968, the Community Council of Greater Victoria, under Garth Homer, asked Arbutus Crafts to join with a number of other agencies to develop a central Activity Centre, to meet the needs of adults with disabilities in the community. Funding was provided by all three levels of government, the Sarah Spencer Foundation, the G.R. Pearkes Clinic, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the P.A. Woodward Foundation, the Community Chest of Victoria, and gifts from two estates. The Garth Homer Achievement Centre was opened on May 15th, 1977. Unfortunately Garth Homer was not present having died suddenly in September of the previous year. The Centre was named in his memory. The inscription on the plaque at the entrance of the building contains the following words, “He walked quietly among us for he loved his fellow man.”