New West business owners hope to help, heal, and nurture

Helping. Connecting. Healing.

These are the three words that come to mind when speaking with Lloyd Jacinto and his wife, Robelle Salvador: Jacinto owns New West-based Pandora Services, which specializes in the complex care of those living with disabilities and mental health issues. Salvador works with Jacinto, but another adventure is blooming, so to speak: she’s recently launched Sacred Sunflower, which aims to help others heal in a holistic way through a focus on the mind, the body, and the spirit. Both live in Burnaby, near the Burnaby/New West border.

“How we actually met was through psychiatric nursing. We met through a treatment centre in Burnaby, and then … both of us ended up moving to Childrens’ Hospital. We still work there currently; I work there casually, and she works there part-time,” explains Jacinto.

“Pandora Services, I started it in 2011, we’re service providers for Community Living British Columbia, which is basically the government-funding source. We provide services for people with mental health concerns and other disabilities.”

Pandora also focuses on respite care, outreach skill development, and community inclusion.

Jacinto has been working as a psychiatric nurse, specifically for children and youth, for the last 15 years, while Salvador has been in the field for the last 10. Salvador has spent much of her time in hospitals, treatment centres, working crisis support phone lines, and in emergency rooms.

“Two years ago, I had a…major breakthrough transition in my life. I actually suffered from tension migraines because of a post-concussive thing that happened, and at the time it was a challenge, a struggle and a stressor. But it really paved the way for where I am right now in my business.”

Salvador is still helping Jacinto with Pandora Services, but she’s also been busy getting her own venture off the ground: Sacred Sunflower approaches health in a holistic way, with Salvador providing offerings like depth hypnosis.

“I was on my own health journey, healing journey, which actually ended up [being] more of an awakening to my own relationship to my heart and also to spirit.”

Salvador says the experience had her asking how she could bring such a deep layer of healing to others.

“I'm feeling called to be in service to others to help bring back that wholeness, repairing that relationship to self, but really repairing that relationship to how nature, how land-based healing can help a person come into their own sense of nature and spirit within themselves.

“And I feel like Lloyd's business, the ways in which he serves, he serves in a capacity that's really relative to the everyday human experience.”

Both are guided not just by the principles of care, but also of trust: in their respective practices, there’s a huge degree of responsibility that’s required to carry out their jobs. Both agree that there is some overlap in their pursuits because psychiatric nursing ultimately comes down to honouring the person—and the individual’s lived experience.

“They may have a diagnosis, but our job is to remember the person who is in front of us … and that’s who we’re serving first,” explains Salvador.

Despite the challenging work they do, both have a number of things they enjoy about their occupation.

“There are always going to be tough times … but what it comes down to, at the end of the day, I feel grateful that I provide these services, provide jobs, and surround myself with people who are like-minded, wanting to help other people,” says Jacinto.

For Salvador, it’s watching the progress, growth, and change.

“For me, it’s witnessing people coming home to themselves, and them coming into their experience of giving themselves the permission to be—and choose the direction in how they want to be, how they want to heal.”

“It’s this beautiful process unfolding.”

If you’d like to learn more about Pandora Services and Sacred Sunflower, you can visit their respective sites here and here.