As 2024 comes to a close

Affordability and the housing crisis continued to be top of mind in 2024, despite interest rate cuts and government policies put in place to alleviate burdens faced by everyday Calgarians. In 2024, we set our sights on building Enough for All futures by highlighting the voices of lived experience, exploring the systems that keep poverty in place, and coordinating research and advocacy efforts to drive change in our city.

Policy & Research

Taking a closer look at social disorder on public transit: No Place to Go

In recent years, social disorder in public spaces in Calgary, including substance-use deaths, has been a growing concern. Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC), in collaboration with researchers from the University of Calgary and Dr. Nick Falvo, a leading expert on housing and homelessness, released No Place to Go, a study examining social disorder on public transit. With limited options available to persons experiencing homelessness, many are left with no place to go—ending up on public transit. Investing in year-round day-time options for people was a key recommendation.

Supporting affordable housing in Calgary

Advocating for affordable housing is critical to advancing the Enough for All (E4A) strategy. Working alongside E4A Champions, VCC continued to advocate for The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy in 2024, speaking at hearings, providing letters of support, and helping shape the way we think about housing and city-building in Calgary.

Contributing to the progress report on Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy

In February, VCC hosted members of the National Advisory Council on Poverty to help them better understand the complexity of poverty in Calgary, and the poverty-reduction efforts put in place to combat the issue. The visit provided an opportunity to connect Council members with Enough for All Champions and showcase local poverty-reduction approaches through conversations and site tours with Momentum, The Alex, and Trellis’ Iiyika’kimaat Program. The resulting 2024 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty highlights immediate steps to combat rising poverty rates across Canada, amid rising living costs, inadequate wages and benefits, and intersecting crises like housing challenges. The Council’s six recommendations focus on meeting vital needs, improving access to benefits, and fostering equity to build stronger communities.

Calgary’s 2024 living wage shows we need to earn $24.45 per hour for a modest standard of living

Garnering significant attention in November, VCC, in collaboration with the Alberta Living Wage Network, released a new living wage of $24.45 per hour for Calgary. The living wage is now almost $10 per hour (or 63%) higher than Alberta’s minimum wage, highlighting the growing disparity between what we are earning and what we need to earn to cover our basic expenses and have a modest standard of living.

Community Engagement

Broadening perspectives that inform the E4A strategy through Kaleidoscope Spaces

We kicked off 2024 with an exciting new approach to community engagement called Kaleidoscope Spaces, which activates community members in different ways. What does this mean? It means that as we shift and adapt to changes in the political and community landscape, allowing us to be more responsive and flexible in responding to ongoing and emerging challenges that relate to poverty in our community. There are many ways to receive input, and we assess which tool is needed on a case-by-case basis, sometimes engaging directly with the voices of lived experience of poverty, and at other times with organizations, groups, or agencies. Check out the first What We Heard report, which summarizes feedback from community participants on their experiences accessing mental health services in Calgary.

Imagining Futures with Enough for All through Zines

In 2024, we looked for different ways to engage changemakers in our community to learn from the voices of lived experience and reflect on a collective vision for a future where poverty is no longer a barrier to a life well-lived. Working with and in the community, we created zines (handmade mini-publications or magazines) to spark conversations about what Calgarians love about our city, how it can be more accessible and inclusive, and how we can collaborate to ensure all our neighbours have enough. Enough for All Zine Workshops happened across Calgary through summer and fall culminating in Zine Fest, a showcase of art for social change where we unveiled the Enough for All Community Zine Mural.

Enough for All storytelling reaches thousands at Calgary Public Library

In the fall, VCC invited Calgarians to the Create Space at the Central Library to experience a variety of interactive storytelling experiences that examine the social and environmental factors needed to reduce poverty in Calgary. Alongside Sage Cannon’s Making Ends Meet audio play, which immerses listeners in the lived experiences of poverty spoken by over 100 fellow citizens, Calgarians can also check out interactive games like the 30 Day Snakes and Ladders Challenge. The exhibit is up until January 6, 2025.

Publicity & Media Outreach

Telling the stories of Calgary’s housing crisis

In the fall of 2023, Vibrant Communities Calgary and the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy released a study on how many people are at risk of homelessness in our city. However, what was missing in the research were the stories of the people—our neighbours, families, and friends—whose lives are deeply affected by Calgary’s housing crisis. To bring these stories to life, we developed four scenarios of people and families who are at risk of losing their housing. Although the people in these scenarios are not real, they are based on recent data and real stories that we hear every day.

Amplifying subject matter and policy experts through Let's Talk Poverty

VCC’s Let's Talk Poverty podcast tackles the stigma surrounding poverty, challenging biases and assumptions, and helping people understand poverty through the lens of Enough for All. In 2024, we spoke to local, national, and international subject matter and policy experts about homelessness in Calgary, Canada’s growing wealth inequality, incarcerating trauma, fighting loneliness, interventions and supports for domestic violence, designing trauma-informed spaces, changing the way we think about housing, and how the arts can drive systems change.

Raising awareness through media outreach

One of VCC’s key strategic priorities is to influence policies to reduce poverty in our community. Aside from research, advocacy, and community engagement, one of our key activities is helping frame the issue of poverty to increase awareness and attention to the challenges facing our community and the efforts undertaken to address those issues. Our public awareness campaigns and media outreach play a key role in this work. In 2024, we appeared in the news over 550 times, drawing attention to poverty and affordability issues in Calgary, and advocating on behalf of and in collaboration with our Enough for All Champions.

And that's not all we did.

We launched projects to tackle some of the most pressing social issues facing our city, with completion slated for 2025. From an online dashboard demonstrating Calgary’s progress towards achieving its poverty-reduction goals, to policy and research papers on income, the gig economy, and the health system, we’re digging into root causes and putting forward recommendations to improve our community’s well-being.

Next year will be a monumental one for Vibrant Communities Calgary as we celebrate 20 years of driving social change in Calgary. We’ll be shining a light on what’s been done to date—and more importantly—what the future holds.

Collaboration is instrumental in creating true impact, and we’re grateful for the support of the individuals, organizations, Enough for All Champions, and funders who make our work possible. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you in 2025.