On a cold Thursday afternoon, the community room in Temple fills with the sound of kids dropping backpacks, grabbing snacks and joking around as they browse through books brought in by the Calgary Public Library. What looks like an after-school snack break is something much bigger – a lifeline of support woven together by Calgary Housing and Women In Need Society (WINS), helping families steady themselves when life gets hard.

For 34 years, Women In Need Society (WINS) has been a reliable presence for women and families in Calgary, offering everything from food hampers to employment support. But at the heart of their work is something simpler – dignity, choice, and the knowledge that when women flourish, families prosper too.

“We believe that when a woman is thriving, their whole family is, and they’re the true head of household, and the glue to that family,” says Samantha Schmidt, program manager at WINS.

The organization helps women and their families in times of crisis, providing emergency food hampers, clothing and basic hygiene products like soap, shampoo and laundry detergent as well as diapers, formula and onesies for infants.  WINS runs thrift stores that help move donated goods back into the community.

WINS runs programs to help folks find jobs in retail and warehouses, helping them transition from crisis to stability. Other programs include ESL classes and digital literacy courses. What ties all of it together is a commitment to meeting people where they’re at, without judgement. Even when someone receives a voucher to shop at a WINS thrift store, Schmidt says the experience is designed so they blend in with everyday shoppers.

There are two WINS locations on Calgary Housing properties: one in Temple, and another in Erin Woods. These sites make support easy to access for residents who may be facing financial challenges, falling behind on rent, or navigating a crisis. Calgary Housing works closely with WINS to offer referrals and connect residents with the resources they need to stay housed.

One of the programs WINS runs in the community is Grab a Snack. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Kids can stop by after school for something to eat. But, Schmidt says, it has grown into something much more meaningful.

“Kids can come after school and literally grab a snack. But they are definitely invited into the space,” she says. “We do some group programming, and we really try to assess what the need is in the community.”

Every two weeks, the Calgary Public Library joins the program with its book bus, giving kids access to literacy and connection to Library resources.

Building community isn’t something that happens overnight, but Schmidt has seen this partnership’s impact firsthand. Last summer in Temple, residents came together to makeover their shared spaces. They painted murals, created community gardens, and transformed their shared space into a welcoming gathering place. WINS and Calgary Housing supported the project, but the vision, initiative, and energy came from the residents themselves.

“I think from that moment, we saw that everybody wants to connect,” Schmidt says. “They’re resolving conflict on their own, and they’re a very powerful community because they now have solid relationships.”

For WINS, client journeys often begins with basic needs: food, clothing, household essentials. But it doesn’t end there. As trust grows, so do the opportunities for stability, learning, wellness, and long-term support.

Calgary Housing and WINS share the same goal: helping individuals and families move from crisis to stability, with dignity leading the way.

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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.

The post Partner Profile: Rise Calgary – Providing Help for Today and Hope for Tomorrow appeared first on Calgary Housing.

In Calgary’s Forest Lawn neighbourhood, Indigenous families gather over shared meals, weaving together connection, culture and teachings help unravel the threads of intergenerational trauma.

Braiding the Sweetgrass is a program offered by Hull Services that supports urban Indigenous families to experience community and connect with their shared identities. The only requirement to join the program is that someone in the family must be enrolled in any grade in school, from kindergarten to Grade 12.

Peter Daniels is the program coordinator of Braiding the Sweetgrass. One of his goals is supporting these families in regaining cultural acceptance, to be proud of who they are and where they are from. The program allows families to overcome stigma and come back to their roots.

“It gives them the opportunity to be part of the community — a community of other Indigenous people that are searching for the same thing.” Daniels said.

The four-month program takes place in Hull Services’ Forest Lawn location and runs twice a year. There are eight different sessions led by Elders. The sessions include dinner on weeknights and lunch on weekends. The program kicks off with a pipe ceremony and a feast that engages families in the program right away.

“I heard an elder actually call it kind of an Indigenous contract, in a way,” Daniels said with a laugh.

The program includes age-appropriate lessons so families can learn teachings on the same topic.

Daniels recalls a Calgary Housing resident who was a single mom who was able to recognize the pattern of harm that she experienced as a child in herself. She was subconsciously repeating the pattern and, through the program, was able to recognize that and build a deeper connection with her daughters.

Families that graduate from the program or take a pause on their attendance have the option to take the program a second time to build more knowledge and to allow flexibility for changing life circumstances.

There is also a continuing community for graduated families so they can maintain their connections. Seventy families are now a part of the continuing community.

“Families come back with more resilience. They’re advocating for themselves more. For us staff, we get to watch the impact and that’s the big rewarding part,” Daniels said.

Daniels shared a story that highlights the program’s influence. A young mother, participating with her eight-year-old and one-year-old, had a realization during the sessions: she had stopped showing affection to her older child at a certain age, mirroring a pattern from her own upbringing. Encouraged by the lead Elder, she decided to break that cycle.

“Especially with the parents, when they’re in those groups, you see a lot of ‘aha’ moments,” Daniels said.

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