The Triveri House opens its doors in time for the holidays, welcoming 38 homeless and vulnerable youth home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtYwG8_LfDk&feature=emb_logo

On November 19, 2020, Calgary Homeless Foundation and its community partners celebrated the opening of The Triveri House, which will provide 38 youth with a warm, safe place to call home.

The opening included the launch of a new microsite, featuring a video that provides an exclusive peek into the building itself, and insight from those who made the building a reality.  

A Place of Stability for Youth

The Triveri House, which offers 37 units and one transitional suite, is located in Calgary’s Forest Lawn community. It will provide homeless and vulnerable youth with the foundation they need to begin their journey towards health and independence. 

According to the 2018 Point-in-time Count, of the 2,911 Calgarians experiencing homelessness on any given night, 18% (over 500 individuals) are under the age of 24. In the Coordinated Access and Assessment system, which matches people with the programs and services they need, around 80 youth are waiting for supportive housing in Calgary.

Mady Stone, a member of the Youth Advisory Table, describes her experiences of homelessness on and off between the ages of 16 to 21 as “the scariest thing” in her life.

She says is excited about The Triveri House, because “it will mean people getting housed faster and having a place to feel stable.” 

Supports for the Journey Home

To help tenants of The Triveri House begin their journey towards healing, Enviros was selected as the building’s agency provider through an extensive RFP process.

The agency will assign a case manager to each tenant to determine their goals and needs. Case managers will help them access health care, income supports, and food security, while enabling them to integrate into the community and connect with their natural supports. Case managers will also assist tenants in learning the daily life skills required to live independently.

The Triveri House offers a range of supports, from minimal intervention to more intensive case management for those with complex needs. It will also provide a spectrum of programming, including: 

Housing identification; 
Rent and move-in assistance; 
Case management; 
Short-term housing with supports while residents await more permanent options, and
More intensive longer-term housing.

Hazel Bergen, CEO of Enviros, says the agency is looking forward to working with tenants, noting it has extensive experience working with youth aged 18 to 24, who are moving to independence through Enviros’s Youth Transition to Adulthood program and the wilderness addiction treatment program held at Shunda Creek.

She observes that youth must have a “safe place to sleep and call home” before “they can work towards the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being they need in order to successfully exit homelessness and become independent.”

Collaborating to Make Home A Reality

The Triveri House marks the ninth newly constructed building given to Calgary Homeless Foundation and its housing collaborator, HomeSpace Society, through the RESOLVE Campaign.

The development was made possible through the generosity of philanthropic donor, Calbridge Homes. HomeSpace Society developed the property and will continue to own and operate it. The Government of Canada (through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) and the Government of Alberta also contributed to the build, as did the City of Calgary through a non-market land disposition.

Patricia Jones, President and CEO of Calgary Homeless Foundation, says as a result of this collaboration, the youth moving into The Triveri House “will have a place of belonging, and a stable foundation upon which all other healing can happen.”    

Bernadette Madjell, CEO of HomeSpace Society adds, “HomeSpace Society is proud to partner with Calbridge Homes for this build, which will be our largest new permanent supportive housing development to date.”

She continues: “Our strong community partnerships are critical for the work we do in continually adding new affordable housing in our city and providing homes, safety and dignity to some of Calgary’s most vulnerable residents.” 

A Name with Meaning

The Triveri House is named in memory of Caterina Triveri-Ferraro and Raimondo Ferraro – the parents of Joe Ferraro, Chairman and Founder of Calbridge Homes – and serves as a dedication to his mother’s side of the family.  

The name honours the Ferraro family’s hardships after moving to Canada from Italy in the 1950s and the strength they developed through the experience. It recognizes that communities become stronger when people help one another.  

Bev Higham-Linehan, President and CEO of Calbridge Homes, says the company is “grateful to be in a position to give back to people in need, particularly at this time in our economy here in Alberta.”

“This contribution to the RESOLVE Campaign is the biggest donation we have ever done and it could not be a more worthy cause,” she says.

To the residents of The Triveri House — welcome home! 

For more information on the building, visit: www.triverihouse.com. 

The Triveri House: In the News