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10 year plan 10 year plan to end homelessness acadia place agency alpha house society art in homeless community art smith bill c-400 bishop henry calgary homeless canadian alliance to end homelessness chf clock collaborative art collaborative fund-raising campaign collaborative policing community community action committee ending homelessness faith homeless homelessness homeless services homeless stories housing first john rook mark horvath mayor nenshi phc point-in-time count project homeless connect propsect human services research resolve social enterprise stephen gaetz students students make a difference susan scott this is my city tim richter volunteer volunteers w.o. mitchell elementary school
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W.O. Mitchell students make a difference
On April 3rd, Andrea Ransom, VP Communications and Fund Development visited Miss Tamblyn's Grade 4/5 class at W.O. Mitchell School and provided the students insight into Calgary's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. She was invited to come and talk to the class as part of their investigations into homelessness in our city.
The Power of Collaboration
During 2012 the Calgary Police Service noticed a significant increase in calls for service to two buildings owned by CHF and operated by CUPS. Police members were being called to the apartment building several times in one day and even repeatedly to the same unit. Communications began between the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF), CUPS and the CPS.
RESOLVE -- The Vision of 3,000
There is an ancient Japanese legend that promises a wish will be granted to anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes. And, while the over 3,000 Calgarians who are currently experiencing homelessness in our city may not have the paper to fold a thousand origami cranes, their wish of ending homelessness could come true if the RESOLVE: Make it Possible, fundraising campaign has its way.
Project Homeless Connect -- 16 Amazing Events
When I was hired by the Calgary Homeless Foundation in 2009, I soon realized one of my major challenges was to take over managing a major event known as PHC (Project Homeless Connect). It meant coordinating over 40 homeless serving agencies, organizing a caterer to serve 1000 meals in two hours, finding professionals who would cut hair on a Saturday, locating and transporting several thousand pieces of donated clothing, purchasing several hundred toiletry items to give away, to recruit, assign job descriptions and orient approximately 100 volunteers and then to lay out a floor plan for an exhibition pipe and drape, table and chair company so all these elements would fit and flow smoothly together. And to be in and out of the event venue in a 24 hour period.
Research Matters
It wasn’t so long ago that I would lament the lack of impact of research on the homelessness crisis in Canada. You often used to hear people say, “We don’t need research – we know what the problem is and we know what the solution is.”
The Beginning of the End
An excerpt from Susan Scott's new book, "The Beginning of the End:"
Walking by the Countdown Clock Every Day
For the past three weeks as I go to my office I walk by the countdown clock in the CHF reception. If you don’t know about this clock, it is counting down to January 2018 when the goal of the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in Calgary is to have no one staying in an emergency shelter or sleeping outside for more than one week before being housed with support.
Seeking Innovative, Long-term Funding Solutions
Days into the start of my role as Vice President of Social Enterprise, the CHF held its Project Homeless Connect event, where people struggling with homelessness can get a meal, haircut and a range of other services. It was a Saturday so I took my 12 year old daughter, Lauren, with me. We were cheerfully greeted at the entrance by a volunteer who gave us tickets for lunch and a map where we could find other services. Lauren whispered to me, "Dad, she thinks we are homeless." As we walked around chatting with people it was clear to both of us that you don’t always know who is struggling.
Finding Calgary's Rough Sleepers
On January 18, 2012, I had the chance to be part of Calgary's first homeless count since 2008. Approximately 200 people volunteered, including: Calgary Police Service, City of Calgary Bylaw officers, non-profit agency outreach teams, parking authority staff, and Calgary Stampede and the University of Calgary employees.