Aurora on the Park and Providence House — Building better futures

It was a day of hope  and possibility and new paths and new directions.

It was a day to celebrate and open new doors to bright new futures.

The kick-off for Aurora on the Park and Providence House, two new affordable housing projects that will become home for 49 formerly homeless Calgarians went without a hitch.

The dignitaries arrived, the guests crowded around the stage and the media stood by and listened and learned and felt drawn into the possibilities and hope of a better future for all people who will call Aurora on the Park and Providence House home. 

And through it all, the sun shone, the birds sang and people felt optimistic and engaged in what we can do and are doing as a collective to end homelessness.

Alan Norris, President and CEO of Brookfield Residential and Chairman of the Board of the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the RESOLVE Campaign summed it up well when he said that the 11 homebuilders who were there representing RESOLVE are competitive in their day jobs but very committed and collective in their desire to work together to make a difference in our city.

Getting to this moment, where all the pieces came together to create such an exciting and successful event takes a lot of hard work and a lot of people.

There was a lot to be grateful for at the Aurora on the Park and Providence House kick-off event.

Here are just a few of the things we are grateful for:

• Grateful that, as a city, we have a shared vision of ending homelessness and are working collectively to make it happen
• For Casey Eagle Speaker who opened the ceremonies with a reminder of our shared humanity and our right to have a place to call home
• For people like Linda Olsen, Co-anchor of Global News Hour at 6  who volunteered her time to act as Emcee for the event
•  For greetings read on behalf of the Honourable Michelle Remple, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre-North and MLA Calgary – Acadia, Brandy Payne for speaking strongly in support of ending homelessness and the need for affordable housing
• For PC MLAs Sandra Jansen and Mike Ellis and Leader of the Liberal Party, MLA Dr. David Swann who  stood in support of ending homelessness and affordable housing
• For Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi for speaking so clearly of excellence and vision and commitment and what it means to work collectively to create a great city for everyone
• For Glynn Hendry, Regional Vice-President, Qualico who  on behalf of Streetside Developments: A Qualico Company spoke with such pride and passion about their role in helping to make Aurora on the Park possible 
• For Rob Kennedy, Vice-President, Morrison Homes. Like Streetside and 9 other Calgary homebuilders, Morrison Homes donated $1.4mil to the RESOLVE Campaign to support building of 8 new affordable housing projects in Calgary to ensure we have the necessary homes to end homelessness
• For all the homebuilders who came out to lend their voices and support to the RESOLVE Campaign and the kick-off events
• For the communities of Hillhurst Sunnyside and Crescent Heights who were open to the possibilities these two projects represent and welcomed them into their communities with such grace
• For all the people who came and listened and learned and supported the project and added their well-wishes for the future tenants of Aurora on the Park and Providence House 
• For the artists of This is My City who created the masterpiece of the yarnbombed house that stood so colourfully and proudly at the centre of the celebration
• For all the Calgarians who came out to celebrate and to support 
• For Diana Krecsy, President & CEO of CHF for her passionate leadership of ending homelessness collectively
• For all staff at CHF for turning up and being part of the event, for bringing their best to support what we are working to achieve together
• For the RESOLVE team for contributing their best to help make it a great event
• For the CHF Housing Team who worked so hard to ensure the property was well-tended and ready for the event, and who continue to work so hard every day to ensure CHF properties make great neighbours
• For the CHF Communications and Fund Development teams for giving their hearts to creating a day that truly did touch hearts, open minds and set possibilities for a better future, for all of us
• For a neighbour named Pedro who lives down the street who came back with his camera because he’s a documentary film maker and he wanted to record the events for us as a gift.
• And for everyone who came and stood in the hot blazing sun and took a stand for building homes for those who have lost their way.

 

You make a difference!

 

Mayor Nenshi’s remarks at the kick-off event. (Thank you Pedro Parada)