Calgary - Low Income Resources

There IS NO MORE HEP FUND in Calgary.

The government is denying assistance more and more to those who do not have at least TWO UNDERAGE CHILDREN under their official care. Even those with 1 child may be forced off financial assistance programs, to seek resources elsewhere in the community and other agencies. If you have one child, that doesn't matter - you will have a considerably more difficult time trying to acquire funds and resources than someone with at least two or more children.

There is a solid attempt happening here to get anyone without kids off social services benefits.

In short - yes, the government is having trouble funding people - and their answer to this is to deny more and more people who really need help... (No, the government hasn't really run out of the money - it's just mis-managed and the gov't is dysfunctional in its financial matters...it can straighten out - but only when the NEED BECOMES VERY GREAT for the gov't to actually do so.)

Here's how this new restriction works:

If you are not looking after at least two children, gaining social service benefits in Calgary Alberta is going to be very, very difficult for you.

All I can say is KEEP TRYING.

You will have to jump through hoops like never before. I know this is NOT RIGHT and that the government really DOES NOT UNDERSTAND the needs of low income people, but I am studying this problem as much as and as fast as I can.

GO TO YOUR ADVOCATES every chance you get and get HELP with forms, resources, etc. Soon, the "Benefits" systems for people needing assistance are going to be TOO COMPLICATED with TOO MANY HOOPS and REQUIREMENTS for the average person to navigate on their own.

IF YOU INVOLVE YOUR ADVOCATES - maybe they will learn more about the social services and assistance BARRIERS and if you get a GOOD ADVOCATE who really ends up caring about you and your life, the advocate will help you push through the barriers.

FACT: MANY OF THE AVERAGE SHELTER WORKERS AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE CONSIDERED ADVOCATES DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL SERVICES SYSTEM.

THEY CAN LEARN Tho' - and the best "awareness" measure you can help with in all of this low income confusion is to BE ASSERTIVE, be consistent and keep asking questions, asking for what you need, keep approaching advocates so they will learn more than the minimum tasks of their job description and will start seeing that YOU ARE A REAL HUMAN BEING WITH COMPLEX NEEDS.

The reason I say KEEP TRYING and approach your advocates is that there are still funds that only trained workers can access for you. The front-line gov't workers have basically been told there is a new requirement criteria for qualifying for social services and fund-related benefits. It's not the workers' fault - they're just doing their jobs and doing their assessments and intake tasks, according to new requirements in their jobs.

I JUST ACCESSED - rather, my advocate accessed funds for me that I really desperately needed and these funds and resources amounted to the same thing as if I had been able to successfully access something like the HEP fund on my own. I was going to be homeless sometime in March without this help...and now I'm darned broke still but my housing is pretty solid for the next couple of months. I won't be getting an eviction notice and my stress level has been reduced considerably.

What I have been finding out tho' - is YOU NEED ADVOCATES and if those advocates are inexperienced, you need to keep pressing at them to be efficient and help you.

In the meantime, I am still talking to people of all kinds, all levels of income about homelessness and the needs of low income people. And I'm still scouring the city for resources on days when I'm healthy enough to do so - still doing 'fieldwork' independently, still talking to both the homeless and housed, funders and those in need of funds.

It's MAYHEM in Calgary - people really, really do not understand homelessness - c'mon people - HOMELESSNESS IS ABOUT PEOPLE AND NOT ABOUT MONEY...it's about how people TREAT EACH OTHER, not about how many coins are in peoples' pockets!

I have been TEACHING my advocates about homelessness and low-income struggles - most of them really do not understand the frustrations involved with low-income issues. I have GOOD ADVOCATES who are listening - FINALLY - and I GOT RID OF the advocates who didn't seem to 'get it.' In turn, I have had to do a lot of anger management, take a lot of 'calm down' breaks - and do a lot of ASSERTIVE repeating of information, but it's working for me.

Continue to let your advocates know that what's out there isn't working for you. Keep asking for your needs to be met. And realize you'll have to access resources more and more through advocates. So if you don't have advocates - find some as soon as possible.

If you're in Calgary and are a low-income resident in the city who is worried about being evicted due to non-payment of rental funds, check this out

Homeless and Eviction Prevention Fund

Not a whole ton of information is made readily available or easily accessible about this fund, but hopefully the above link will help you if you're facing difficulties.

Also, the Red Cross organization sometimes helps with Damage Deposit money, as does CUPS, but you have to contact these organizations to see if you qualify for assistance on these matters.

**Important**

St. Mary's Church Sunday Supper is not available during Stampede week.

Do not go to St. Mary's during Stampede week in July for any meals - the soup kitchen is entirely closed and there are no emergency food hampers while Stampede tourists are in great numbers for 10 days.

That is the location near the old Holy Cross hospital at:

221 18 Ave. S.W. Phone: (403) 218-5532

I believe the Sunday "Feed The Hungry" program suppers resume again during the last week of July - but above, the phone number is provided if you need to phone and check these details.

At Calgary's Mustard Seed shelter, there has been an unfortunate change to the availability of 'soup kitchen' meals.

I learned recently that the Mustard Seed no longer has most meals available to the public. The meal that is still available to the public is the evening meal, however, the public used to be able to go to the Seed around the lunchtime hours for a meal as well.

The homelessness problem in Calgary is more than STAGGERING!

All of the shelters are OVERWHELMED with population...with NO END IN SIGHT, it seems.

MONEY AND FOOD DONATIONS WILL NOT HELP THIS PROBLEM!!!

IT is a PEOPLE Problem, not a MONEY and FOOD problem.

People and the attitudes that people hold...about class, gender, financial status, success - and the STIGMA that people adhere to about low-income people and SERVICES...is at the base of the homelessness problem.

And now, due to attitudes, misinformation and misunderstandings about this problem, even the shelters are having to cut back on making resources available!

The Mustard Seed is trying to make sure that its services maintain their quality for any person who is a resident...thus, making sure they have appropriate foods for the residents...so they can no longer offer the extra public meals.

It's a DAMN SHAME that a city where MONEY IS FLOWING is folding to the pressures of stigma and garbage like 'status,' allowing WORKING HOMELESS PEOPLE to flounder...these are not people without values, worthiness and importance who get stuck in shelters...

Two blocks north of the Mustard Seed in Calgary, Alberta, you will find elite businesses, and the shelter is located RIGHT BEHIND one of the city's MOST POPULAR AND WELL KNOWN LANDMARKS.....The Calgary Tower.

How can people visiting the Calgary Tower MISS KNOWING ABOUT THESE HOMELESS PEOPLE?

I should answer that question...

...the lot south of the structure is a parking lot. A PARKING LOT separates the elite from the homeless. Beyond the parking lot, to the south...is a world away from elite street, I guess.

Anyhow - due to the ever pressing and growing problem of a rising homeless population, the shelter behind The Calgary Tower can no longer offer extra public meals for low-income Calgary citizens. If you don't have a Mustard Seed resident ID card, you can only eat a public meal around 7pm.

Food on street level:

Prepared food is available to those in need in many locations in Calgary. The primary shelters in Calgary serve meals to 'residents' and prepare a 'public' meal, as well to people who have run out of food or the ability to cook food at home.

**********DAILY**********

Calgary Drop In Centre 423 4 Ave. S.E. T2G 0C2 (downtown Calgary) Phone: (403) 266-3600

The Drop in Centre is open 7days/wk 24h and has meals at 7am, 9:30am, 12pm (noon), and 6pm. Snacktimes are 9:30am and 3pm. DROP IN and HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT!

The Salvation Army - Centre Of Hope (downtown Calgary) 420 9 Ave. S.E. T2G 0R9 Phone: (403) 410-1111 (24 hour)

Free COMMUNITY MEAL at 4pm DAILY!

The Mustard Seed (Downtown Calgary) 102 11 Ave. S.E. T2G 0X5 Phone: (403) 269-1319 (line available business hours 9am-4:30pm)

Daily lunch 1pm-2:30pm, daily supper 7pm-8:30pm

Feed The Hungry program at St. Mary's Cathedral 221 18 Ave. S.W. T2S 2T2 Phone: (403) 218-5532

**********Limited Times**********

FEED THE HUNGRY Program at St. Mary's Cathedral Hall (Church) just off downtown Calgary (Near Holy Cross hospital) 221 18 Ave. S.W. T2S 2T2 Phone: (403) 218-5532

Limited - ONLY ON SUNDAYS This location is at a church just off downtown, meals at 3:30-5:00pm Sundays.

Inn From The Cold: (*Priority Given To Families*) 117 7 Ave. S.W. T2P 0W5 (downtown) Phone: (403) 263-8384

This is an overnight temporary shelter that attempts to assist families first. Intake and screening process from 4pm-5:30pm daily. Inn From The Cold provides a hot supper, overnight shelter, then a breakfast and bagged lunch. This shelter service is located downtown along the street where the C-Train runs, on the south side of the street. It's across from the big TELUS building.

Calgary Drop In Centre: 423 4 Ave. S.E. T2G 0C2 (downtown) Phone: (403) 266-3600

This shelter provides mats to sleep on temporarily, and beds in segregated areas are available for those whose stay is going to be longer. Also available, dormitory beds (these require an assessment of your situation and needs and aren't immediately available upon first request). Generally, if you arrive past 9pm, you'll have trouble getting in here. If possible, get to the Drop In Centre before 7pm and you should be okay and have an indoor place to stay for the night.

Salvation Army - Centre Of Hope/including Booth Centre: 420 9 Ave. S.E. T2G 0R9 (downtown) Phone: (403) 410-1111 (24 hour) Residential inquiries, men:(403) 410-1184...Residential inquiries, women: (403) 410-1126. Separate building, The Booth Centre at 631 7 Ave. S.E. T2G 0J8 for men: (403) 262-6188

Centre of Hope has segregated areas, and also a separate building (The Booth Centre) for males only. Cot/beds are available in the free/emergency areas and some low-cost private 'transitional' rooms are available for those who can afford them for short durations. (Some subsidies available for those who qualify).

The Calgary Mustard Seed: 102 11 Ave. S.E. T2G 0X5 (downtown) Phone: (403) 269-1319

The Seed has approximately 80 beds available. Also, "Step-Up" transitional housing program is available to those who qualify. Applications are taken in for the Step Up program daily from 1pm-4pm. If you require shelter overnight it is best to arrive before 7pm to make sure a bed can be provided. This shelter is located just south of the Calgary Tower, downtown.

THERE ARE OTHER SHELTERS IN CALGARY but some are designed to assist abused women, teens, and people in other specific situations (including shelters for sex-trade workers who are desperately trying to change their lifestyle and assume a safer lifestyle), so their details are not freely given in public for obvious reasons.

If you are in danger as well as needing shelter, the above agencies and shelters will access the OTHER resources for you to help keep you anonymous and safe.

The time for people to ACT upon the homeless, housing, economic crisis that has been building for the last 5 years has come and gone...

The time already passed whereby people could PREVENT the problems. Prevention is just a 10-digit word and one heck of a good concept at this point, however, it's not a practical word anymore.

The people in Calgary who are already homeless and the hundreds more who will become homeless this winter (2007/2008) need for people to THINK CREATIVELY because the resources have run out and the homeless are still being 'created' by the housing and economic crunch...

There is no way out for some people this winter, so let's stop B.S.-ing and pasting band-aids on BIG PROBLEMS.

People aren't ducking into the shelters for temporary 2 or 3 night stays, they're going IN this winter and they're going to have to stay put until Mother Nature is finished what Mother Nature does...

Things that people rarely consider about the needs of PEOPLE (let's not always call them 'the homeless' - they are PEOPLE) are that PEOPLE need a certain amount of comfort...

Shelter residents and homeless people have to pretty much carry what they own on their back. How about some PRACTICAL donations this year at the shelters...Backpacks, Travel Mugs, Bus tickets (for those who are able to go to work, but who are often prevented from working due to having no way to GET TO WORK), Coffeeshop Gift Cards (so people can keep their sanity and have someplace else to sit once in a while). It really helps to give items to people that help them assume some semblance of normalcy when they get stuck in shelters...

In Calgary, we're not looking at the 'usual' situation with homeless people. Though there are SOME homeless people who become conditioned to the streets and shelters, for whatever (various) reason(s), a great number of Calgarian homeless have become that way due to issues beyond their control.

A TON of homeless people in Calgary have been lured here by the prospect of good jobs...but with little warning about how bad the housing crunch is, many people travelled here only to have their first few paycheques eaten entirely up by rent and housing fees. Now, some of these people cannot even get back to where they came from and are stuck here...

This is not a normal 'poverty' situation...

Any constructive comments appreciated...

If you are from an area or another country that has experienced a similar problem and recovered from it, I'd really like to hear some ideas.

* Note - any references to the homeless as being 'lazy,' 'bums,' or 'deserving' of this fate will obviously be deleted. There aren't any more reasons to 'blame' and 'name-call' in this situation.

It's a PEOPLE problem - not a money or character-deficit problem.