Foundry Langley Donor Spotlight: Julie-Anne & Kent Sillars

Home, Hearth and Heart: Vesta Properties’ Founders See Urgent Need Among Langley Youth

Julie-Anne and Kent Sillars believe in letting home, hearth, and heart guide them in every decision they make in their own lives and in their business as builders/developers at Vesta Properties.

This was the case when the couple named their company Vesta (Greek for ‘Heart or Hearth’ of the home ) and then when they turned their attention to their favourite causes, following their hearts on the path that led them to Foundry Langley. Julie-Anne, a former cabinet designer, and Kent, an accountant, founded Vesta Properties in 2000. Based in Langley, the founders and their business partners built Vesta Properties into master plan developers for communities in BC and Alberta over the next two decades, including Langley’s Latimer Heights, Latimer Village, Milner Heights and Brookswood Mills as well as the first two towers in Langley in Latimer Heights.

As Vesta Properties grew, the Sillars family looked beyond business and into the wider community for opportunities to make an impact. After getting to know many families who’ve made Langley their home, the Sillars – parents of two young adult men and one teen boy – recognized the urgent need among youth in Langley.

Today the family is active as a key sponsor of Nightshift Street Ministries, which reaches out to young people in need of a hand up in times of life crises, addiction and homelessness. In this work and in her work as a track coach for youth, Julie-Anne noticed that during the COVID-related shutdowns of schools, recreation facilities, and community snack programs, young people were left adrift, isolated, and purposeless.

When they heard about Foundry, they knew the timing was perfect; the cause had already lodged in their hearts, she says.

“We are proud to support the Foundry to assist them in offering mental health, substance use support, primary care, peer support and social services to our youth in Langley,” says Julie-Anne Sillars. “It’s something Langley youth really need right now.”