Money and mental health are closely linked. People living on lower incomes face more stress and mental health challenges, and those challenges make it harder to stay financially secure. It’s a cycle that affects many Canadians.
Access to safe, affordable housing along with a range of supports is a stability measure that can help people in addressing their own mental health challenges and break the cycle of poverty.
Calgary Housing partners with several organization to help residents stay housed. Whether someone is facing financial hardship, falling behind on rent, or struggling to meet basic needs. Calgary Housing offers support, including referrals to external agencies. One of these partner organizations is Rise Calgary.
Rise Calgary was created out of a partnership between BowWest Community Resource Centre and Sunrise Community Link. The non-profit provides programs designed to support families and individuals living on lower incomes, including access to basic needs services, advocacy services, financial empowerment opportunities, and skill-building programs in parenting, employment, and everyday life.
Rise has two locations in Calgary Housing properties, providing services that are easily accessible for residents. The organization is located in Ranchlands and in Ogden.
“At Rise, we like to be where people are,” said Salimah Kassam, Executive Director of Rise Calgary.
Rise also helps folks find temporary housing while waiting for entry into Calgary Housing or another form of stable housing.
“In those instances, we’ll often provide the basic needs fund to keep the relationship going while working with the person to try and ensure that they’re building some sustainability into their budget so that this doesn’t happen again,” Kassam said.
Rise focuses on supporting residents who face immediate issues, be it income insecurity, housing insecurity, or food insecurity.
“We’ll start working with people on all three of those areas of life: income, food, and housing. We try to create some sustainability and some security for folks,” Kassam stated.
Rise’s priority with clients is to address their immediate need by accessing a number of interventions, including the Basic Needs Fund, filing taxes to access government benefits, and working with Alberta Works and income support. Anyone can start their stabilization journey with Rise.
A non-profit’s stabilization work usually only happens after you’ve engaged in a structured program. With Rise, that happens once you walk through the doors.
Stephanie, a Calgary Housing resident can attest to the value of Rise’s stabilization work. Her son has specialized needs, and Stephanie is a full-time care giver. She went to Rise for support.
“Everything kind of got on top of me. Everything just piled up and I went back [to RISE] and I can’t even explain in words how good they are. I went in, kind of in a puddle, and they just said, ‘let’s get you back on your feet.’ They are so good,” Stephanie said.
“We acknowledge that poverty is a really hard job, and it involves a lot of steps to get out of, and it’s a long journey. We’re there in a way that allows for that. We try and bring that compassion and that acknowledgement so that people can feel hope and can feel like there’s a path forward and a way out,” Kassam said.
