Another big thank you! The University of Calgary Medical School donated funds raised from their Med Show and Scotia Bank matched the donation. We are so thankful for your support!

Pictured: Abdel Ali (Scotia Bank North Hill Mall location), Finola Dksouza (medical school student), Kathy Christiansen (Alpha House) and Ismael Capeda (Scotia Bank, North Hill Mall location).

We are excited to announce that Alpha House received $250k from the CHBA – UDI Calgary Region Association towards our women’s building. This is a building we want to develop for vulnerable females experiencing homelessness. We are working towards this lofty goal through the the Resolve campaign.  We were presented this cheque at the SAM awards this past Saturday evening. Thank you CHBA!

With the warm weather already here please keep a look out for possible encampments where people are sleeping outside. Our Encampment Team 403-805-7388 is always looking to connect with rough sleepers to talk to them about housing and provide other resources. The team operates Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.

In our clothing room we are in need of gently used or new shoes at the moment. With the constantly changing weather it is important individuals have warm and dry shoes. Please drop off donations any time at our client entry door at 203 15 Ave SE. Thank you!

We were thrilled to have Dwight Dorey, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples come to Alpha House and speak to some of our detox and housing clients. The conversation ranged from life on reserves, to Urban Aboriginals and the issues they face experiencing homelessness. One client shared the concern around the increase in Crystal Meth use among the younger Urban Aboriginals. Congress of Aboriginal Peoples advocate for the interests of Aboriginal Peoples living off-reserve since 1971 for Status and Non-Status, Metis and Southern Inuit of Labrador. Check out the Calgary Herald article to learn about his talk he gave while in Calgary.

We had our 6th Annual Alpha House Housing Christmas Party this week for all our housing clients. It was great to have over 150 people attend the Turkey dinner and see the community that has been created. Thank you to those who helped with gifts for all the guests.

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Thanks to our friends from Cummins Western Canada who decorated Alpha House for the Season on Dec 6th!

We got a great invite to come speak at the 70th Social Media Breakfast today and decided to take the opportunity to promote that the DOAP Team could really use a new van. So we came up with the hashtag #wheels4doap to try to push the message out to as many people as possible. Make sure you join us on twitter @alphahouseyyc.

We were pleased to be able to connect with CBC Calgary and share about our Encampment Team, our housing program and share a common story in terms of how housing really benefits people experiencing homelessness. Duane was certainly kind enough to share his story.

The RESOLVE Campaign will help Alpha House raise funds for affordable housing for vulnerable females. You can be a part of this initiative that will change the face of Calgary’s street. We plan to build a new apartment building for up to 30 women who have experienced addiction and long-term or frequent homelessness. Learn more here.