2018 was a challenging year for many Calgarians, and for all of us here at Distress Centre Calgary. The local economy continued on the road to recovery but also experienced significant set backs along the way. We at Distress Centre continued to cope with exponential increases in demand for our crisis services.
We hope to learn and grow from our experiences in 2018. Our 2019-2021 Strategic Plan reflects what we have learned, and projects continued growth and development to ensure we can respond to the growing and changing needs of our community.
Our agency staff and volunteers responded to over 140,000 contacts in 2018, up from 123,774 in 2017. This was a 14% increase in demand.
As awareness of Distress Centre increased in the community, we were very fortunate to have been chosen as a charity of choice for four major third party events in 2018: Outrun the Stigma, Birdies for Kids, Brett Wilson’s Garden Party and the Calgary Children’s Aid Society luncheon. Additional funding from events such as these allows us to implement the changes needed to support our highly trained volunteers and staff in the contact centre. Moving forward, our Leadership team will look to technology, data analytics, and improved processes and human resources to enhance our capacity to respond.
We want to thank all of our volunteers, staff, leadership and Board of Directors for their hard work and commitment in 2018, and for their continued dedication to our mission. We also want to thank our funders and donors for their continued support of the work we do in our community. Together, we will continue to provide compassionate, accessible crisis support to individuals in distress – 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.
Janet Segato, Board Chair
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Jerilyn Dressler, Executive Director