Calgary outreach group forced to leave its downtown headquarters worries for future

An outreach group in downtown Calgary must leave the location it's operated from for the last five years, as the city won't be extending its lease into the new year.

BeTheChangeYYC gives out essentials like water, food and clothing to members of the homeless community in Calgary's downtown core, in addition to helping with program referrals and emergency shelter access.

The organization's CEO Chaz Smith, who started BeTheChangeYYC in 2015, said operations at the current headquarters will end on Dec. 31, following notice from the city in July.

Smith said losing the organization's current location won't mean the end of its programs, but it may impact how effective BeTheChangeYYC's outreach services are going forward.

"This could change the capacity of how much food, water, clothing [we give out]," Smith said.

"As we're in extreme weather conditions now, that will disrupt our unhoused community, and that will put direct impact on anyone who lives downtown and the local businesses who are downtown."

Smith says the work of outreach organizations like BeTheChangeYYC can help reduce downtown disorder.

"By providing things like jackets, mitts, toques, gloves, food, water, we prevent so much crime that is driven by simple poverty," he said.

The city's Downtown Safety Leadership Table report, released last year, calls for the city to provide more support for outreach services as part of an effort to reduce vandalism, threatening behaviour and other acts of social disorder that may make downtown residents, visitors and businesses feel unsafe.

Searching for a new space

"We've been actually hunting for a new space for many, many months now," Smith said. "The problem is that we have 2,500 square feet."

The headquarters are filled with goods given out to the city's homeless community.

Smith said the organization had been renting the space for only a dollar a year from the City of Calgary, which has partnered and worked with BeTheChangeYYC on different initiatives.

"We've been very grateful that the city has allowed us to utilize this building, as it is mostly empty, for so long," he said. "But that is a huge amount to our budget. 2,500 square feet could look like $50,000 additional a year on our budget."

BeTheChangeYYC, along with fellow outreach organizations SORCe Calgary and the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary, is located at 316 Seventh Avenue S.E., across from city hall.

The location is also known as Block 40, where the former Central Library and Calgary Police Service administration building were once located.

In a statement emailed to CBC News, a city spokesperson said all lease agreements at the Block 40 site had been signed with the understanding that they were "on a temporary, year-to-year basis" ahead of a "future needs assessment for the facility" conducted by the city.

"The city is actively evaluating options for the future of the buildings," the statement reads.

Smith said the city will allow BeTheChangeYYC to move out mid-January, but not to operate there past Dec. 31.

"I would hope that the city would support us in transitioning to a new facility," Smith said.

The city said it is "not responsible for sourcing new space for tenants," but did unsuccessfully review options for other potential locations.

"Unfortunately, we rarely have available facilities that meet these needs," the city's statement reads. "We encourage organizations to explore partnerships with community associations and social recreation groups, which may have underutilized space available."

Smith said it's likely any new space would be significantly smaller than the current facility, and that moving to a new location will inevitably come with budget cuts for the organization, which is largely volunteer-run.

"It's about making sure that this program continues to operate, because it is not only vital to the city, to people that live downtown, local businesses, but to people who need us the most on the streets," Smith said.

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