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Little House gets special foundation

400 rocks with power words like peace and joy placed inside walls of society's new facility in Tsawwassen
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There is a little something special in the foundation of the new Little House.

Last week, a number of people gathered early one morning to place 400 rocks into the foundation of the Little House Society (LHS) facility, which is now under construction in Tsawwassen.

Each rock was adorned with a "power word" - such as peace, joy, surrender, and strength.

"We placed the rocks along the inside of all the exterior walls, as well as along both sides of the interior weight-bearing walls," said Jim Stimson, president of the Little House Society.

"In addition, we made a large heart using the rocks and placed those in the centre of the floor underneath the Little House Fireside Meeting Room."

The idea for the rocks came from one of the participants at the Heart of a Mother education series, which was sponsored by the society earlier this year.

The woman had been involved in the building of a school in Africa where the elders, villagers and their children were invited to write words of strength and hope on rocks. Words that they wanted the school to embody and to carry forward for the education and enlightenment of their community. The rocks were then put into the foundation of the school.

Stimson said he thought the idea was perfect for the Little House.

Members of the public had an opportunity to write words on the rocks at the groundbreaking ceremony last month, as well as at the LHS booth at Ladner Village Market.

The initiative isn't quite complete.

The public will have the opportunity to continue to create power rocks this summer as the LHS will continue to have a booth at the market, as well as at other community events.

The new rocks will be placed in the swirl creek bed that runs through the property along side the new house.

The LHS is a communitybased nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and advancing education related to substance use, abuse and addiction, and abstinences-based recovery from addiction. For 27 years, the society was charged with the responsibility of overseeing a house located on 12th Avenue in Tsawwassen. The house was used as a meeting place for addictions and related recovery groups.

In 2009 the house was destroyed by fire.

The society decided to turn this tragic event into an opportunity to redefine its mission and purpose.

The board and members decided that not only would it rebuild the house as a multi-purpose facility to be used by recovery groups and other community groups, it would also create a new primary mandate to create ways to provide knowledge and support to the community regarding substance abuse issues.

Construction on the new Little House began on June 11 and is expected to be completed by year-end.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact Jim Stimson at 7788871828.