Stacey, a Community Food Centre program participant, shares how our virtual programming has brought her family together during hard times.
My Family & The Alex
read more
Impact stories
Beverly’s Story
In 1975, when she was just a girl, Beverly was taken from her birth parents after witnessing violent domestic abuse in the home. She was placed with foster parents and her older siblings all went to different homes.
John’s Story
What is the best birthday gift you have received? For John* it was a gift he gave to himself – walking into the RAAM clinic on his 45th birthday to ask for help with his alcohol addiction.
Chris’ Story
Imagine that your body is fighting against you at every turn, calcifying your bones, resulting in crippling headaches, weakness, stiffness of your arms and legs and ongoing abdominal pain. This has always been part of Chris’ life.
Liza and Tessie’s Story
Five years ago, Liza and her husband Nathan moved to Calgary from the Philippines. Liza was pregnant at the time and was excited to start a new life with her new family in Canada.
Jordan’s Story
On an unseasonably hot day in June, Jordan visited The Alex Youth Health Centre. She’d heard about The Alex years ago from a friend, but didn’t know much about it. As she bled from her wrist that afternoon, it was the only place she could think of to go.
Our Pandemic Year
Responding to shifting guidelines, overcoming technical hurdles, building new programs, maintaining our areas of strength and ensuring our teams are safe, both physically and emotionally – this has been the drumbeat of the last twelve months at The Alex.
Social Work at The Alex: Colin’s Story
It was a day like any other day for Colin. He woke up on someone else’s couch, put on the hoodie and jeans he’d been wearing for two weeks, and quietly walked out the front door. It wasn’t unusual for him to go without breakfast, or any meal for that matter.
Challenges and silver linings: How COVID-19 has shaped the everyday lives of front-line staff
Every day at The Alex Community Health Centre is unpredictable. Who will need us to advocate for their housing? Who will ask for a food referral? Who needs that extra time spent to just talk, and have someone listen?
Notes from the Front Lines: Fear, joy, belonging, connection.
I think the first time it hit me that life had radically changed was when I took my wedding band off permanently. The cherished piece of jewelry that my husband gave me had belonged to my husband’s grandmother and was really important to me.
Notes from the Front Lines: Bearing Witness
“What do you do for a living?”
I always find this a difficult question to answer. Mental health worker, manager, teammate, toilet cleaner, chauffeur, funeral planner, chronic crier, bed bug inspector, mover, system navigator, de-escalator, and advocate are just a few of the hats I am blessed to wear in a role I have so proudly held for the past eight years.
“I love all my Front Liners”
The note, written in beautiful cursive, and decorated with flowers, peace signs and red crosses, read “I love all my Front Liners. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for us!”