Welcome Home Hampers for Vulnerable Calgarians

Organization Name: Bishop O&#039;Byrne Housing Association
Community: Southern Alberta (City of Red Deer and south)
Funding Request: $21,000
Start Date: 2020-11-02
End Date: 2021-07-30

The Cause

Our idea is creating and delivering Welcome Home Hampers for Vulnerable Calgarians moving into our newest affordable housing development in Bridgeland, which is set to open in early 2021. This building will have 104 multi-family units made up of 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom suites.

Most of our residents come to us from shelter or at risk of entering homelessness. We have partnered with a local volunteer group (who has created Holiday hampers for our most at need tenants in the past) who is committed to ensuring our new tenants are immediately welcomed and integrated into the community they are so proud to call home. We know the power of community and how essential a feeling of belonging is for our overall well being and mental health. By providing new tenants with a welcome home package, including basic cleaning supplies and household items (items which many of our tenants cannot afford) as well as local maps, program details and other helpful information, tenants can immediately feel part of the community and engage to ensure they have a positive experience in this wonderfully diverse and inclusive neighbourhood.

Who Will it Benefit?

We anticipate welcoming over 200 vulnerable Calgarians into this building when it opens. The building will be diverse and a true reflection of our community as a whole. We will have low income seniors, adults, recent immigrants, and families. Most of our residents struggle with physical or mental health concerns, disabilities, substance abuse or addiction. Many of these folks have been marginalized for a long time and have never had a true sense of belonging in any community. Some folks have faced unexpected hardships such as job loss, illness, domestic violence or marital breakdown that resulted in the unimaginable reality of homelessness. Every single one of these individuals deserves a chance at a stable life in a community that welcomes them as they are.