Autism Okanagan home looted just months after it was donated to the charity

Just months after celebrating a major donation,  Autism Okanagan is reeling after a devastating incident.

“A gut punch,” is how Tammy Gilmour, the organization’s co-president, describes it.

Back in November, the charity received the gift of a home from the Hall Family Foundation, to be used as it’s first-ever permanent location.

“We are in the process of turning it into our ‘Home for Belonging,’ an inclusive space for people with neurodivergencies,” Phillips said.

But over the weekend, thieves broke into the Lombardy Square home and looted it.

“It was a real feeling of violation,” said Christy Phillips, Autism Okanagan’s executive director. “They didn’t even take the things that you would expect.

“You would expect them to take things that were of value, but they took our soap and our towels and our bedding and our cutlery and mugs and glasses.”

Phillips said the culprits even took toilet paper.

It happened sometime overnight Sunday.

“They drilled two holes through the window casing and they were able to open the window and climb through,” Gilmour said, describing how the suspects got in.

To top it all off, those responsible left an obscene message on the kitchen chalkboard.

“I can’t even tell you how that felt to come in and read that there were profanities left on a welcome sign,” Gilmour said.

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The hurtful words have left the organization questioning whether the act was targeted.

“We’ve been on the news. We had a sign on the outside of the grass about what our intentions were for the house, so you really hope that that has nothing to do with the fact that we were robbed,” Gilmour said. “That’s what we hope.”

Kelowna RCMP told Global News they have been made aware but are hoping for more information from the public to advance an investigation.

“Who would do this to a charity, right? That’s what you want to know. Who would do this,” Gilmour said.  “There were tears.”

Autism Okanagan is now facing a costly task of replacing the stolen necessities as it works towards officially opening the space in the fall.

“We’re starting from scratch,” Gilmour said.

Despite the break-in, the organization is still hoping to officially reopen this fall.

“Every dollar that we now have to spend replacing the things that were broken and damaged…replacing the things that were taken, that comes straight out of our programming, so it’s a loss to our participants and all the families we serve,” Phillips said.

Autism Okanagan is also now looking into beefing up its security.

“We’re definitely going to need a security system of some sort,” Phillips said. “So for anyone out there who can help us with that, we would absolutely love to hear from you.”

If you would like to help the organization replace stolen items, a list can be found on the Autism Okanagan website.