DJD have been offered an outstanding opportunity and been invited to perform at Jacob’s Pillow – a highly respected competition that will undoubtedly elevate DJD’s presence on the world stage and allow them to draw higher caliber dancers/choreographers/artists in the future. This is great news for the Calgary dance community.
In support of the event on March 31, 2023.
In support of the event on March 31, 2023.
The Canadian Liver Foundation is enhancing their ‘Living with Liver Disease Program’ (LWLD), which focuses on the negative impact of drinking, on and mental health, liver health, and the increase in the number of alcoholic hepatitis cases brought on by the global pandemic. The program is designed to benefit people affected by liver disease (including caregivers), and includes a virtual and in-person option to eliminate access barriers. The program features mental health, liver health specialists, and dietitians, from Calgary’s liver clinics. The goal is to provide people living with liver disease, and their caregivers, a safe environment to share their stories and receive information on the latest treatment updates from industry experts.
RVF needs to revise and update its mission, vision and values. This need has been identified as part of a recent strategic planning process. Specifically, the mission and vision statements have evolved to limit the work of the Foundation to affordable housing for seniors. In fact, the Foundation was established in 1964 with a mandate to provide affordable housing for all, not just seniors. The board agrees that even the name does not fully capture the work RVF can do in the communities it serves. Therefore, we are seeking funding to retain an external contractor to assist leadership to review and update the vision, mission and values statements that representative of the work RVF does in the community today and plans to do into the future.
The goal is to update and strengthen the governance of the Society. Covid has led to a diminishment of SALTS’ governance capacity. At the same time, the complexity and responsibilities of the organization have grown requiring greater sophistication. Due to our work, SALTS has a membership and Board of Directors that is dispersed across southern Alberta. In the past our AGMs and many board meetings were held in-person which facilitated board engagement, retention, and recruitment. After two years online, this engagement has been negatively impacted resulting in a serious need to ramp up our governance work. SALTS plans to hire a consultant to work with us to develop and improve key governance policies, processes, and board recruitment.
Synergy’s Executive Director and Founder is retiring as of June 30th. Over the past eight months the agency has been preparing three core staff to take over the ED’s duties as a Leadership Team. Synergy believes it would benefit from the objective wisdom of a consultant to evaluate our current state of readiness, make go forward recommendations and offer coaching in the areas of leadership development, team relationships and positive workplace culture development. The project would begin on April 1, 2023, and continue for three months following the ED’s retirement date of June 30, 2023 in order for the Leadership Team to have the advice and support they will need whilst establishing the agency’s new Leadership structure.
Twelve, self-contained, one-bedroom units of affordable housing, AFCC, in consultation with its design team and informed by its Elder’s, has created an Indigenous owned and operated building designed from the ground up to provide safe and dignified accommodation for Indigenous seniors. Two of the units will be fully accessible and two additional units are designed to be adaptable for barrier free occupancy, allowing for maximum optimization for residents whose mobility needs could change in time. The building is designed to be durable with a robust building envelope. The energy consumption will be 40 to 45% below the Alberta Building Code requirements and will be augmented with solar voltaic panels. The land blessing ceremony occurred in January 2022 and construction commenced in May 2022. The anticipated completion is May 2023. Additionally, AFCC, Elder Reg Crow Shoe (CM) and Rose Crow Shoe (CM), wishes to honour the significant cultural contributions of Canada’s First Nations and Indigenous peoples by providing a variety of Indigenous art work. Furthermore, the intent is to invite local Indigenous artists to provide artwork, artifacts, sculptures, and other interpretative works to create a living culture with tangible links to the Indigenous community. See attached suggested request for proposals for local Indigenous artists. The amenity and gathering space have been envisioned as a multi-purpose area for cultural activities, teaching, knowledge circle, and ceremonies. The opportunity to provide special rug as a central focus and other accessories to create a unique environment for spiritual healing, and knowledge transfer. See attached suggested request for proposal for local indigenous artist. The current project funding is for hard and soft costs only. Appliances are currently unfunded. To offer a truly dignified living environment for seniors, We would like to furnish all the suites with. a curated package : bedding, furnishings, appliances, cookware, and other household items provided to each unit has been designed to reflect the overall respect we have for the Elder’s of the community. A turnkey, fully furnished housing solution allows for the assurance of safety, comfort, and dignity to the residents. Given the timing of the anticipated completion date of May 2023, we believe this aligns perfectly with the timing of the Calgary Foundation.
Alberta Ecotrust Foundation and our program partner, Empower Me, will deliver a program to address the unique challenges faced by the 16% of Calgary households living in energy poverty. Energy poverty is the experience of households or communities that struggle to pay to heat and power their homes. These lower income families live in inefficient homes, and spend a disproportionate amount on energy bills.
With the intention to launch the program in spring of 2022, Alberta Ecotrust and Empower Me will leverage established and emerging partner and support organizations, to provide energy efficiency education and upgrades to 100 or more households and present an approach for a long-term program.
The program will:
-Ensure equitable application process: prioritizing those most in need, the application process and strategy will target newcomers, immigrants, Indigenous communities, and single parents
-Build capacity by providing in-depth education (delivered in multiple languages) to residents to understand how their behavior can influence the cost of energy and impact on climate change, contributing to sustainable behaviour change
-Customize upgrades to ensure participating homes receive the most impactful upgrades to maximize the reduction in energy consumption
-Inclusive measures so that renters living with energy poverty also benefit
-Explore other funding opportunities to add value and possibly expand program reach
-Best practice research and outcome harvesting from past programs will provide data, learnings, and inform recommendations for a long term program that could be directly adopted and implemented, by the City of Calgary and inform program learnings for City of Edmonton
-Build awareness through communications and engagement, of the need in Alberta with other local, provincial, and federal governments and institutions.
Contemporary Calgary is renovating its Observatory and Auditorium in order to expand its available exhibition space and revitalize an under-utilized theatre.
Changes to the Observatory will allow Contemporary Calgary to offer additional exhibition opportunities to artists and curators while piloting an innovative programming model that is responsive to current events. While most exhibitions require one or more years of planning, programming in the Observatory will occur on a scale of months, and will be able to respond to important current events in a timely manner. Programming in the space will include both exhibitions and events—most notably discussion groups that will ensure the concepts presented in the exhibitions are throughly explored.
Auditorium renovations will transform a stage-less theatre into a highly functional space that will allow Contemporary Calgary to expand its own programming and to offer additional opportunities for community-based groups. Currently, the lack of a stage and curtains, along with poor sight lines from the seating prevent the frequent use of the theatre. A number of simple changes can transform the space into a useful community resource.
Together, these renovations will dramatically increase Contemporary Calgary’s ability to support artists and community in Calgary, and will help the organization become a destination for thought-provoking ideas and discussion in this city.
These projects are already partially funded and scheduled for completion by March 31, 2023 (Auditorium) and December 31, 2023 (Observatory). They are one phase of a larger, overall renovation project that will develop Contemporary Calgary into a bustling hub in Calgary’s downtown west end. These projects are a priority within the overall renovation scheme because of their potential to expand our capacity to support new exhibitions and community-based events, and because of their overall impact on Contemporary Calgary’s ability to carry out its mandate while building community.