The First Create Community Meeting!
August 4, 2025
It's been a wild and productive few months here at Create Community!
We want to invite you to our first ever meet and greet with the team! We have been working diligently behind the scenes to make a community-driven creative center into a reality in Kelowna. With that being said, we have decided to officially start our journey by hosting regular get-togethers with the intention of growing interest in our society.
We have been given access to a boardroom at CanScribe College to host these events! This gives us the opportunity to get to know each other and lend some helpful resources for creative projects that you may be working on. The secondary goal we hope to achieve is getting the word out about our Community so we can grow!
Please join us on Monday August 4th at noon at 1226 Ellis Street, Kelowna. We look forward to meeting you!
Our Origins
April 18, 2025
My passion to start this project grew over the course of two years living in a small Vancouver apartment. I have always liked to repurpose old materials or furniture, and I try my best to do this whenever there’s an opportunity. These small projects have ranged anywhere from re-staining a patio table to building a potting bench from an existing bookshelf. While working on these, I was limited to a 1.5m x 3.5m balcony space (with plants and a catio taking up even more room) and just a handful of tools that I already owned. Under those circumstances, I had to plan out very carefully what was actually possible and what I had to leave on the back burner. Pretty soon, my to-do list was much bigger than my have-done list, and it got to a point where I started thinking that I can't be the only one; there has to be someone else in the same predicament. That's when I started connecting the dots between the neighbours I see carrying pieces of wood out into the alleyway to paint them and the spaces we live in. I'm not the only one, and I can provide an outlet for all of us. Then I remembered my friend Braeden was previously talking to me about setting up a maker space in Kelowna, so I had to let him know my realization. Not only can we create a makerspace, home to hobbyist tools and equipment, but we can also create a full-scale community space to drop in whenever you’d like and complete the projects you weren't able to previously. Bring your own tools and materials, and we’ll give you the space. Or, we can give you the tools, the materials, and the space. The goal for our spaces is to establish an environment where anyone can create their dream project, and at the same time, have the opportunity to build meaningful connections with members in their community.
If all goes well, I would like to have Create Community Spaces across BC, where each location is tailored to its surrounding neighbourhood. This may mean that some spaces are only equipped with 3D printers and electronics or textile equipment, while other spaces could have the full range of woodworking and metalworking necessities, and everything in between. Whatever the outcome may be, if we can provide a positive outlet that allows the community to discover or carry out their passions, I’ll consider this a success.
I look forward to seeing what we can create!
- Mitch
Hey there!
My name is Braeden, I originally hail from Prince George in northern BC but moved to Kelowna in 2021. I have always had a passion for creation, and my northern heritage has led me to look for new ways and spaces to express that creativity. I hold onto many passions such as woodworking, electronics, microcontrollers, mechanics, and leatherworking with even more if you want to ask! I am a problem solver who hates repetitive tasks and am always looking to automate or improve my life.
I started this journey when I was laid off from the job I moved to Kelowna for. Trying to find a new job, while also trying to get out of the house more, I learned that there aren’t a lot of places in Kelowna to gather and mingle that let me show off my skills. So I started reaching out, I talked to my friends, I went around town, I called other spaces, and I just couldn’t find anything that would suit my vision. The places I encountered wouldn’t let me exist in their space without using their tools or were too exclusive when I felt I wanted to make more connections. So here we are today, my friend and business partner Mitch has been instrumental in keeping us on track to create a community (see what I did there?) that welcomes people like and unlike us to experience something I feel is missing.
Who knows what the future holds for this community, but with help from everyone, we hope to have a “business” (we’re a registered non-profit for a reason) that can grow and evolve into new neighbourhoods. My grandfather taught me all he knew and instilled a sense of purpose in re-purposing and repairing everything we could get our hands on, and I hope to help others see the value in what we already have at home.
Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure!
-Braeden (In case you missed it in the opening)
Coming soon
March 31, 2025
This is where we’ll post monthly updates about our upcoming events and progress towards opening community creative spaces. We’ll divide the newsletters into a general update, then a more personal chat from both founders, Mitch and Braeden, to show what each of us has been up to.