Homelessness has many faces.
When visible, homelessness stands on street corners and panhandles, huddles beneath blankets in city parks or digs through garbage bins looking for bottles.
Sometimes, homelessness is not visible. A cousin couch surfs for a few weeks after leaving his girlfriend or losing his job. A woman hides out at a friends while trying to get out of an abusive relationship. A friend moves from the other side of the country and needs a place to stay until he/she can find a job and an affordable place to live.
Homelessness has many causes.
Addictions, mental disease, life crises, illness, bad decisions, escalating rent, conversion of rental units into condominiums, economic booms leading to escalating rents and urban redevelopment.
Homelessness hurts.
Homelessness is numbing. It rips away self-esteem, destroys hope and breaks apart families.
At the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre (The DI) we work with homeless men and women who have reached the end of the road and have no where else to turn.
Everyone is welcome at the DI.
ACCESS TO THE DI
Thank you to all our sponsors, the performers, staff, clients, and volunteers who came out to join us at Stand by the DI. It was an enormous success because of you!
RESEARCH & REPORT
Beyond Ending Homelessness - An Alternative Perspective
A DI Discussion Paper by Linda McLean. Click HERE to download the document.
Voices From The Street 2008 - offers insights into the experiences of homeless individuals. Explore their realities and learn more about Calgary's homeless populations. Download Voices From The Street document.
Check out the reseach result of internal surveys:
A Picture of Health (pdf)
Homeless Not Jobless (pdf)
Checkout the results of Mean Streets. Safe Streets Survey.