Purple Thistle Centre
After running a small learning centre just off Commercial Drive, Hern and his partner Selena Couture worked at Windsor House Alternative School, then opened the Purple Thistle Centre in 2000 with seven teenage friends in East Vancouver. The Thistle has since flourished and expanded significantly into a major community centre that is run collectively by a group of youth. Hern acts as a mentor, fundraiser, and organizer who works closely with the collective.
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