Léo Therrien, who turned 50 a few days before the CBA gala, had a life-changing experience after a visit to Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, when he was in his first year at Laurentian University.

“It was a cultural shock coming back here...it really hit me,” he says. “I went into social work because I wanted to help people.” He knew he wanted to do something to make a difference.

And he has made a difference in this community. He is the executive director of the Maison Vale Inco Hospice, a place where people go to live their final journey. But Therrien, along with staff and volunteers, have created a place full of life, love and laughter.

Some call the hospice “a prelude to heaven,” and the people who work there are often referred to as “angels.”

“This isn’t a sad place where the focus is on death, here the focus is on life,” says Therrien.

He is convincing as he gives a tour of the handsome building on South Bay Rd. It feels like home. There is a large kitchen/dining room area, a fireplace, soft lighting, spectacular views of Bethel Lake, walls covered with paintings by Sudbury artists, tasteful furnishings, and even a large playroom for children. Visitors are welcomed 24/7.

The social work graduate—he worked previously with Development and Peace, an organization that secures funding for development projects in the developing world, and then cofounded Village International Sudbury, a nonprofit organization that sells fair-trade products from developing countries—was hired in 2000 as the executive director of Maison La Paix, the only AIDS hospice in Northern Ontario.

Under his guidance, Maison La Paix, expanded its mandate to provide end-of-life care to the general public. An estimated 1,200 people require palliative care in Sudbury every year.

Therrien recognized a need in the community for a larger hospice...a place where people could live and die in peace and with dignity.

Maison Vale Inco Hospice, which has 10 private bedrooms, opened in September 2008. Although he had some help, Therrien was involved in the building of the hospice from beginning to end. The first hurdle after securing government support was raising $4 million for the building in the My Sudbury Needs A Hospice campaign, chaired by Gerry Lougheed Jr.

“I believe if it were not for Léo Therrien, we would not have the hospice we have today in Sudbury, “ says Father Gérald C. LaJeunesse, chair of the hospice board, in his letter of support for Therrien’s Community Builder Award nomination.

As passionate as Therrien is about the hospice, he is equally as passionate about the need to secure more funding from the provincial government. Services at the hospice are free to everyone with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care covering 40 percent of the operating costs. This means Therrien and his board of directors have to raise more than $600,000 annually to cover all other operating costs.

“We get funds from in memoriam donations, as well as donations from families, community groups and businesses. We are members of United Way. We get money from the Trillium Foundation for the day program. We hold bingos. We have The Hike for Hospice... I don’t know any other non-profit group that needs to raise $600,000 every year,” he says.

He can’t understand why the provincial government won’t provide 80 percent of the operating costs, especially when the hospice costs $300 to $400 a day per patient to run,compared to $800 to $1,000 per patient forhospital care.

“This hospice clears hospital beds, opens emergency beds and reduces the cost of health care,” he says.

Therrien is married to Christine McInnes and has two daughters, Alexandra and Emma. He is a member of the board of the Hospice Association of Ontario. He has received numerous community awards including the YMCA Peace Medallion, the Francophone Personality of the Month (2007), the United Way Community Award (2007) and the Community Leadership Award from Le Club Richelieu les Patriotes (2008).