2019 Annual Report

Introduction

Everyone goes through challenges in their life. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to help people make positive changes. We’re here to help people feel their best. People like Barb, Heidi, Meghan, Sheena, Kevin and Sarah. You will learn how our counselling and group programs, have empowered to live better lives, to have healthier relationships, and to confidently face the challenges that life brings them.

At Calgary Counselling Centre, our priority has always been to improve the mental health and well-being of the people in our community. Since 1962, we have grown and evolved to meet the needs of Calgarians with our programs and services.

We have been leading the way, providing the right counselling and group programs to fit the needs of our community. Our commitment to our client’s well-being is the driving force behind all our efforts to better understand client needs and advance evidence-based counselling best practices, such as Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT). These efforts have led to us to innovations and proven success for our clients. Our commitment is to always do the best we can for our clients.

In 2019, we received 11,232 requests for service — more than any other year of our operations.

This past year was a time of change and uncertainty in our community and the 16% increase in demand for our services reflects that. We experienced a federal and provincial election, both leaving questions for the future of our economy. Even with the increased demand we continued to provide our clients with unparalleled clients results, barrier free access; no wait list and sliding fee scale. In these uncertain times, the importance of having Calgary Counselling Centre remain a pillar in our community and continue to provide barrier free counselling for all who need it, is evident.

Message from the Board

Whenever I get the chance, I like to volunteer at my grandson’s school. I often help out in his class and I’ve noticed a little girl who often comes to school in tears. She just seemed so sad. I was really concerned about her so I spoke with her teacher. I mentioned that the girl’s parents might want to consider counselling for their daughter. The teacher agreed but said with concern that most of the families at the school would not be able to afford expensive counselling sessions. I was very happy to be able to recommend Calgary Counselling Centre knowing that fees are never an issue with their sliding fee scale.

Knowing that I am part of an organization that helps so many people like that little girl make me very proud to be a part of the board at Calgary Counselling Centre (CCC). Mental health is such a pervasive challenge for people — having an organization such as CCC focused on improving the well-being of Calgarians and strengthening the community is invaluable.

I took on the position of board chair in May this past year after serving on the board since 2014. I was thrilled to be able to take on this opportunity and continue to contribute to an organization that has such a strong impact on individuals and families in our community.

I have always admired the social enterprise business model at CCC. It was exciting to see the increasingly visible results of this hard work. I am so proud to be a part of the expansion of our social enterprise initiatives and I’m proud of the staff, leadership, and board for the direction that the Centre is going and their efforts to solidify the organization’s sustainability.

A trait of Calgary Counselling Centre that I truly admire is the refusal to remain in the status quo. Even though we are recognized locally and internationally, Calgary Counselling Centre’s leadership and staff continuously build on their success, always asking how we can do better for our community and continuously improving their services. These efforts are evident in the results CCC clients get, which are unparalleled in the industry.

I want to thank the funders and donors of Calgary Counselling Centre — your support ensures that everyone, no matter what their financial situation is, can access the world class services of Calgary Counselling Centre. Just like that little girl in my grandson’s class.

— Jocelyne Daw

Message from the CEO

As an academic, I’ve always been drawn to the numbers, the data and the proof. It is the data that points to the right path to take and the evidence validates that the decisions we make are the right ones for the people we serve. The outcomes that our clients receive continue to lead all published benchmarks. But what does that really mean? What do these numbers really tell us? It’s telling us that the people we work with are getting better. They’re having happier relationships; they’re living better lives.

The demand for our services in 2019 was higher than it’s ever been — we had a record number of requests for services of 11,232. This increase tells us that the economic uncertainty we’re experiencing is affecting many people in our city, and is also tell us that we are the trusted place that people turn to when they need help.

These numbers are the reason we’re not afraid to lead the way, to push limits and convention. To challenge each other and break molds. I’m drawn to numbers because behind every number there is a person that needs our help — a person who deserves to receive the most effective treatment. Everyone one deserves access to counselling when they need it and I’m so proud to be able to offer services to our community that is affordable and can be accessed without a waiting list.

— Dr. Robbie Babins-Wagner

Photo by Jared Sych

Our Clients

 
female clients60%FEMALE male clients39%MALE clients of other and unspecified genders1%NOT SPECIFIED
 
 
 
employed clientsEMPLOYEDFULL-TIME43%
unemployed clientsUNEMPLOYED OR LOOKING FOR WORK12%
 
 
clients under forty years old76% UNDER 40
clients over forty years old24%OVER 40
 
 
 
married clients32% separated and divorced clients10% single clients58%
 

Requests for Service

number of requests for service12,50010,0007,5005,0002,50002017201820199,5779,67611,232  

Top Five Reasons to Seek Counselling

top five reasons for counselling 1 ANXIETY 2 DEPRESSION 3 COUPLE AND MARITAL RELATIONS 4 STRESS 5 SELF-ESTEEM  
summary NEW CLIENTS 7,168 CLIENTS CARRIED OVER 2,463 TOTAL CASES 9,631 PEOPLE SERVED 54,598 TOTAL HOURS OF COUNSELLING 38,370
Bruce Wampold with staff

OUR TEAM

  • 48

    Full/Part Time Staff

  • 74

    Interns

  • 34

    Residents

  • 12

    Consultants

  • 7

    Summer Students

OUR VOLUNTEERS

  • 179

    Total Volunteers

  • 26,843

    Total Volunteer Hours




BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • Dr. Robbie Babins-Wagner

    CEO, Calgary Counselling Centre

  • Jocelyne Daw (Chair)

    Founder & CEO, JS Daw & Associates

  • Wayne Foo

    Community Volunteer

  • Kim Jones

    VP General Counsel, Winsport

  • Davin Kivisto

    VP Planning & Risk, Enmax

  • Tim Moro

    VP, Hill & Knowlton Strategies

  • Jennifer Pendura

    Community Volunteer

  • Cathy Pryce

    Community Volunteer

  • Mike Shaikh

    Businessman

  • Dawn Tinling

    Community Voluneer

  • Wendy Tynan (Vice Chair)

    Community Volunteer

  • Deanna Werklund

    President & CEO, Emergenetics Canada Inc.

  • Richard (Rick) Whitley (Past Chair)

    Regional Managing Partner, KPMG LLP

Thank you to our 2019 funders

We want to thank the funders that have supported our work this year. Your support has enabled us to impact the lives of thousands of Calgarians:

United Way
Government of Alberta
City of Calgary

We would also like to acknowledge our appreciation of our generous donors who supported our clients in 2019.

 
 
 

Counselling

Barb’s story is one of many that drive us to do what we do. People like Barb are why we work hard to ensure our counselling services are effective. Although many of our clients experience similar challenges, no person is the same and no situation is the same. That’s why we tailor the counselling process to best meet the needs of each individual client.

We’re able to do this through our use of Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT). Through a questionnaire that clients complete before each session, we’re able to measure their mental health vital signs. The client and counsellor can see the progress in a graph and make any changes needed to the counselling process to further enhance the client benefits.

Client engagement throughout the counselling process and the continual adjustment and improvements counsellors make to better fit the client needs is one of the reasons CCC is a leader in the counselling industry. We lead the way and have received local and international recognition for our counselling methods that allow our clients to experience outstanding results. In February 2019, Calgary Counselling Centre and our CEO, Dr. Robbie Babins-Wagner was featured in the local publication, Avenue Calgary, for the FIT approach and how it is providing outcomes that are surpassing all published benchmarks.

Calgary Counselling Centre continues to be sought out by counselling professionals from around the world regarding FIT implementation. We are working collaboratively with Alberta Health Services to pilot a study that will look at client outcomes across two youth mental health and addiction clinics and clients of CCC to learn more about youth mental health challenges.

We continue to work closely with Veterans Affairs Canada’s Health Professionals Division Mental Health Team to assist in enhancing their work in Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) in their work with veterans. We provided a two-day preliminary implementation workshop in Montreal in June of 2019 to the clinic management teams.

We worked with a Primary Care Network (PCN) in Calgary, assisting the physicians to meet the mental health needs of their patients. Due to our positive client outcomes, we have been approached to expand services to a second PCN in 2020.

Calgary Counselling Centre and the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) collaborated on a pilot study in 2019. One part of the study was to explore the results that social workers achieved in their counselling with WCB clients. The outcome of that study was that social workers became part of the service delivery team utilized by WCB. Social workers can now be contracted by WCB to deliver professional services throughout the province.

With our client’s well-being at the forefront of what we do, we continually search for opportunities to learn, grow, and provide the best care for those who need us. In September 2019, we were delighted to work with Dr. Bruce E. Wampold, Emeritus Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is also the Director of the Research Institute at Modum Bad Psychiatric Centre, Vikersund, Norway. Dr. Wampold provided workshops to CCC counsellors and students and consulted with us regarding clinical supervision innovation and the refinement of feedback measures to ensure clients receive the best possible outcomes.

Bruce Wampold

Wilson Centre for Domestic Abuse Studies

Named for the generosity of W. Brett Wilson and his family, the Wilson Centre for Domestic Abuse Studies at Calgary Counselling Centre is a crucial resource for men and women like Heidi, who are affected by domestic abuse. The Centre has the largest and most comprehensive domestic abuse research database in Canada. We partner with researchers from Universities across North America to learn about how we support our clients who are impacted by domestic abuse.

We are a leader in the area of domestic abuse treatment and prevention. We provide counselling and group programs for all genders to those are abusive in intimate relationships and to those that experience abuse. In addition to these services, we also collaborate with and guide other professionals on domestic abuse best practices.

In 2019, we continued to have an active presence in the community, locally and provincially, by providing workshops to mental health professionals on the topics of on male domestic abuse, working with male victims, working with honour based violence, trauma informed care, and elder abuse.

We shared the coordinated collaborative approach we use to prevent domestic violence with a panel of judges from the Ukraine. This approach focuses on systemic change and includes judges, service providers, shelters, clients, and all professionals that are involved in the work of domestic violence.

Calgary Counselling Centre was involved in a collaborative PrairieAction Foundation research project this past year. The project involved better understanding and capturing the experience of male victims of abuse. From this project, we received many suggestions from service providers and men themselves for ways to improve the response to male victims of intimate partner violence across the Prairie Provinces. To better illustrate and complement the research data from the PrairieAction project, we are capturing some of these stories with videos of our male clients telling their stories and the challenges they faced.

We concluded our participation in Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence. This project, through the University of Calgary, conducts research and policy changes to help stop violence before it starts. Our contribution to the project was to assist in finding innovative ways to engage men and influence gender norms or social expectations about how men and women should behave.

We continue to address complex client needs by collaborating with other community service providers and conducting joint outreach meetings with clients to learn and integrate knowledge, and share resources to better assist males who have experienced abuse.

The Calgary Domestic Violence Collective hosted an event titled Think Tank Among Professionals: Continuum of Work with Men and Boys. Due to our long history of working in the area of domestic violence, we were invited to share our knowledge in this area at the event. Our domestic abuse program has excellent retention and client outcomes. We are working with other professionals to change the approach used with those who perpetrate violence from one of shaming and blaming to client engagement, alliance building, and respect.

Depression

Although the recession has been technically over since 2017, many people in our community continue to struggle with economic uncertainty, job instability, and financial stress. Anxiety and depression are the two top concerns that our clients report, and counselling sessions increased 17% from 2018 to 2019.

Depression is a complex issue. There are over 200 different symptoms of depression and every person’s experience of depression is unique, but there are similarities as well. Each person suffering with depression impacts at least three other people. We know that most forms of depression can be socially passed on in families. Children living with a parent who is struggling with depression are more likely to also experience depression. At CCC we work strategically to engage family members into counselling as well as the person experiencing depression. We want to break the cycle of depression whenever possible and protect families by giving each family member problem solving, decision making and discernment skills to help them pursue a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

As well as individual counselling, we regularly run a 14-week group counselling program for depression and anxiety — Break Loose from Depression. Clients who participate in group and individual counselling had a 36% higher improvement rate than those who just did individual counselling. Our research tells us that people who participate in six sessions of individual counselling followed by a depression counselling group achieve more robust outcomes.

Children & Youth

The monsters come at night. That’s what 6 year old Sheena used to think. She was terrified to go to sleep. After her parents divorced, Sheena had stayed with a few different relatives for a while. Because she moved around so much, she struggled to trust people. Her sleep problems were just one sign that something was going on. She was moody, easily upset and throwing tantrums at school.

Sheena’s parents brought her to Calgary Counselling Centre to see one of our specially-trained child counsellors. CCC uses a counselling method called play therapy where the counsellor engages with the child through a variety of activities and play such as colouring books, puppets and other creative methods to help the child express their feelings. Through this method, Sheena slowly began to trust the counsellor and open up about her feelings.

Our counsellors teach children and their families coping strategies and problem-solving skills — the tools they need to face challenges. All of our work with children is focused on integrating work with children and their parents or caregivers.

As with all our clients we use Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT), but for children under 12 we use a specific Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ) which is completed by their parent or guardian. If they are older than 12, the child fills out the YOQ on their own, and their parent or guardian fills out a separate questionnaire.

Calgary Counselling Centre offers two unique group programs for children and youth that requires the participation of both the children and their parents or caregivers — Responsible Choices for Children and Children of Divorce. During the programs we work with children like Sheena to identify and treat the problems they may be experiencing including: depression, anxiety, self-esteem, bullying, domestic conflict, and more.

Our research indicates that children that participate in both individual counselling as well as a group program achieve better results than those that only participate in individual counselling. Play therapy is incorporated into children’s counselling and the group programs relieves the sense of isolation around mental health concerns — it helps kids know that they are not alone.

We also offer a group program tailored to youth titled Self-Esteem for Adolescents. This group incorporates group discussion, activities, art, and music to help address many important topics that influence self-esteem. Through the group activities, teenagers are able to nurture a more positive self-concept and difficult experiences such as identity, self-talk, depression, anxiety, anger, relationships, sexuality, and body image.

Relationships

As well as the couples counselling that Kevin and Sarah participated in, Calgary Counselling Centre also offered a monthly Marriage Preparation workshop in 2019. Couples in the workshop learned to develop communication skills, resolve conflict and many other important relationship skills. In 2019, 38 couples participated in the Marriage Preparation workshop.

Scott Miller

Education & Training

Clint is one of the thousands of students that has been trained at Calgary Counselling Centre since we began teaching students in 1962. In 2009, we named our education program the Haskayne Learning Centre for Graduate and Post-Graduate Counselling Studies to recognize one of our major donors, Dick and Lois Haskayne. The Haskayne Learning Centre is the largest non-university based training facility of its kind in Western Canada and another example of how CCC leads the way in the training of future counsellors. We have become a national leader in training in psychology, social work and marriage and family therapy students. In 2019, we provided training to 108 undergraduate and graduate students. Students that train at Calgary Counselling Centre receive unparalleled, hands-on experience, and weekly clinical practice seminars. Each student engages in supervised observation labs, working directly with clients to learn counselling best practices. Our student counsellors typically get equal or better results with clients than more experience counsellors.

In 2019, we continued to create multiple tiers of training using the latest research and experiential learning best practices. Every year, we renew our strategic training plan to ensure the next generation of counsellors is learning how to use outcome measurements to best help their clients reach their goals.

Each year, Calgary Counselling Centre also welcomes students from the fields of information technology, research, communications, and graphic design. Through their internships at the Centre, they are able to gain practical skills they can apply to their area of study and their future careers.

Thank you to the RBC Future Launch program for investing in our students.

Education

Community

We continue to work with corporations in Calgary on workplace mental health. We were invited into consultations with the City of Calgary regarding their mental health review, participated in the United Way Speakers Series and presented on stress defense for entrepreneurs at Venture Mentoring Services of Alberta and Calgary Technologies.

In the area of youth mental health, during the first six months of 2019, we worked closely with administrators at West Island College to assist them with their mental health strategy. We delivered five different workshops entitled Anxiety I Am Not Playing Your Game to students, teachers and parents. We also presented two workshops to junior high students at Ted Harrison School in NE Calgary.

In September of 2019 we were contracted by Family School Resource Workers Professionals to present two workshops at their annual professional development seminars on Feedback Informed Treatment and the use of FIT in school settings.

I remember exactly where I was when I was asked to become involved with National Depression Screening Day. I was sitting in a café in Chicago when I got a call from Robbie (the Calgary Counselling Centre CEO). She told me a bit about the initiative and asked if I would personally help raise awareness of the online screening test that would be offered. It was just a few days after I had found out that Robin Williams had died by suicide. It was so tragic. It made me think that if someone so well-known and successful can struggle like that then there must be people I know, people that are walking around me that are struggling with issues that don’t know where to turn to for help. I thought that the least I can do is help to create some awareness of this initiative that could potentially help someone. A few years later, in 2018, I partnered professionally with the NDSD initiative when the Grey Family YMCA hosted a joint event for NDSD and our 30th anniversary. It made a lot of sense for us as an organization – the YMCA has been prioritizing the physical health of the community for over 110 years, so it was natural to align with this mental health initiative, as physical and mental health are so connected.

There was a time when I went through my own struggles. I’m a fairly connected guy — I have an extensive professional and personal network, but at that time, I felt very alone. I didn’t realize the options that were out there. The depression screening test help set me on a really important path. It’s so important that people realize that there are accessible resources out there when they need them.

— Ken, Vice President, Community Engagement, YMCA Calgary

Our annual National Depression Screening Day initiative took place from October 7 to 13. During this time a free, anonymous, online depression screening test was made available to anyone to check in with their mental health. The online depression screening tool, developed by the Harvard Department of Psychiatry, and adopted by Calgary Counselling Centre, screens for symptoms of depression and offers resources to those who require help. This year, 16,997 people took the test with 4,735 participants from Calgary. Calgarians had the following results: 36% were not recommended for evaluation, 44% were recommended for further evaluation, and 20% were strongly recommended for further evaluation. For the first time, more men than women took the test. Men outnumbered women by 13%. This is a positive indicator of reducing stigma surrounding men’s mental health. In 2018, the participation of men was 35%.

Research

Like Blaine, all of our clients benefit from one of the areas of Calgary Counselling Centre that sets us apart — our research. Since 1996, we have had a dedicated team of researchers. You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Research allows us to measure and improve the effectiveness of our counselling and ensure that our clients receive the best possible outcomes.

Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) is the foundation of our research. The information gathered on outcome measurement helps us develop more effective programs, improve counsellor practices and ultimately helps our clients achieve better results.

Our research team conducts numerous research projects and collaborations with other researchers. We also publish our findings in peer-reviewed journals and present them at national and international conferences.

2019 Research highlights:

  • A collaboration with the Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE) and University of Calgary on a study titled The multi-faces of intimate partner violence across the Prairie Provinces: Men as victims. This project was a collaboration between the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan to better understand men’s experiences of intimate partner violence and ways to improve services for men. CCC interviewed 16 male victims of abuse and 11 service providers from Calgary and surrounding areas. Data from all provinces were combined to get a broader picture of what men are experiencing and how we could improve care for men who are survivors of intimate partner violence. We presented these findings at the RESOLVE Research Conference in Calgary in November.
  • A study to explore the use of FIT in at two Calgary Alberta Health Services clinics. Parents and youth complete a FIT outcome questionnaire prior to each counselling session and the results are discussed during the counselling session.
  • A continuing collaboration with Idaho State University Clinical Psychology researchers to better understand the importance of the relationship between the counsellor and the client and how it affects client results. We submitted two abstracts on this project to the 2020 American Psychological Association conference.

Our research team also provides real-world opportunities for practicum students and volunteers to gain experience in practice-based research. Research students that come to Calgary Counselling Centre, work on projects that address important research questions and match their research interests. In 2019, two of our Bachelor of Social Work students presented results to Calgary Counselling Centre counsellors and staff regarding the National Depression Screening Day study on the link between depression and exercise. A Master of Social Work student presented results on gender diverse clients, and a summer student presented results from a project on the benefits of group counselling. Last year we also had four volunteers assist us with daily research activities while gaining valuable research experience.

Calgary Counselling Centre is also part of a robust, Provincial Research Advisory Group made up of a diverse set of mental health professionals and researchers, all leaders in their fields of practice. This group meets twice a year to provide input on our research and help connect us with the broader community.

2019 Publications

Quirk, K, Owen, J, Reese, RJ, Babins-Wagner, R., Berzins, S. (2019). Benchmarking Community-Based Couple Therapy: The Role of Measurement Reactivity. Family Process (in press). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/famp.12513

Tutty, L.M., Babins-Wagner, R. & Rothery, M. A. (2019). The Responsible Choices for Men IPV Offender Program: Outcomes and a Comparison of Court-Mandated to Non-Court-Mandated Men. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10926771.2019.1578316

Shaw, S., Lombardero, A., Babins-Wagner, R., Sommer-Flanagan, J. (2019) Counseling Canadian Indigenous Peoples: The Therapeutic Alliance and Outcome. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. Vol 17, 49–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12120

2019 Presentations/Conference Papers

Babins-Wagner, R. Routine Outcome Measurement Implementation Workshop. Veterans Affairs Canada, Health Professionals Division, Mental Health Team. Ottawa ON. March 6, 2019.

Babins-Wagner, R. Moving Data to Action. Policy Wise. Calgary, AB, June 4, 2019.

Babins-Wagner, R., Shaw, S. (2019). Alliance and Outcomes for Indigenous People in Counselling. Calls to Action: Truth and Reconciliation, Resolve Prairie Action Conference, Calgary, AB, November 15, 2019.

Bender, A.M., Fraelich, C., Wood, K. (2019). Multi-Faces of Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Male Survivors. Calls to Action: Truth and Reconciliation, Resolve Prairie Action Conference, Calgary, AB, November 15, 2019.

2019 Revenue

2019 Revenue breakdown
Revenue 2019 2018
Fees for Services
Counselling $2,862,342 $2,168,713
Grants
Grants from Funders $2,449,285 $2,774,313
Fundraising revenue
United Way of Calgary and Area donor choice $82,715 $68,052
Special events $49,005 —
Annual campaign $26,447 $4,530
Donations $23,123 $65,134
Others
Recognition of deferred contributions related to property and equipment $161,293 $145,076
Other $64,812 $110,653
Revenue Total $5,719,022 $5,336,471
Expenses 2019 2018
Salaries and benefits $3,657,288 $3,181,434
Bursary and residency payments $534,485 $428,327
Occupancy costs $530,338 $526,399
Amortization $362,353 $378,955
Miscellaneous $220,709 $186,054
Consultant fees $197,070 $294,248
Interest and Bank Charges $65,417 $39,233
Advertising and promotion $31,541 $22,279
Printing $30,111 $27,542
Accounting fees $28,600 $36,500
Goods and Services tax expenses $25,774 $26,131
Repairs and maintenance $22,296 $19,371
Bad debts $8,515 $11,182
Legal Fees $2,650 $1,446
Fundraising $757 $9,240
Expense Total $5,717,904 $5,188,341
Excess of revenue over expenses $1,118 $148,130

For more information, or to receive a copy of the 2019 audited financial statement, please contact Calgary Counselling Centre.

Our Donors

Our Donors

We deeply appreciate the continued support from the community, and recognize that for many, 2019 continued to be a challenging economic environment. We are grateful for the support from our donors that see the impact and value of ensuring there are no financial barriers for anyone in our community to access highly effective mental health services without a wait list. Their generosity allowed the Centre to continue to meet the increase in demand and the changing mental health needs of our clients and their families.

Donor Profile

Jen Pendura, board member & monthly donor

I learned about Calgary Counselling Centre from a friend of mine that was on the Board of Directors. I was really inspired by the ways that the organization was helping to improve the mental health of so many Calgarians. As someone whose personal philosophy of health is holistic — all elements of physical, spiritual and mental health are connected and important — I was very impressed by CCC. I spent some time researching the organization and I met with the CEO, Dr. Robbie Babins-Wagner, to find out more about CCC and its goals. From what I learned from Robbie, I knew I wanted to be a part of CCC and its vision in some way, so in 2014 I joined the Board.

In that time, I’ve chaired the Governance Committee and have been a member of the Fund Development Committee. I also collaborated with the other Fund Development Committee members to guide the fund raising activities of CCC. It’s been so rewarding to work with the other Board members to shape CCC’s strategic plan, recruit new board members, and ensure that the Board of Directors is strong and sustainable. I wanted to make sure that I did all I could I help this organization continue to thrive and help the people that need it.

Investing in Calgary Counselling Centre is important to me because I know that mental health is something that impact everyone. I really believe that CCC is leading the way in serving the mental health needs of our community. CCC has been there for Calgarians through many hard times — like the flood of 2013. With the sliding scale fee model and no wait list for clients, CCC ensures anyone can get the help they need, when they need it. It’s just too important not to be a part of a cause like this.

I try to encourage and motivate others to support CCC. I use every opportunity I can to let the people in my life know about the positive impact that CCC has.

As well as my time with the Board, it was important to me to give back to the organization financially. It was so easy to become a monthly donor. This way, I’m able to have a greater impact. And you don’t miss the $10, $20, $50 or however much a month you choose to donate. It just goes into your budget and you don’t have to worry about remembering at the end of the year to make a donation.

I am extraordinarily proud of Calgary Counselling Centre and honoured to serve on the board. We get the opportunity to see the growth and impact the Centre has on the City of Calgary. It is probably saving lives.

— Jen Pendura

Pendura family
Donor Profile

Nikole Krentz, volunteer & donor through United Way Donor Choice Program

A few years ago my sister went through a period of severe depression. My family and I were very worried about her, but we didn’t know where to turn at the time. That experience truly made me realize how important mental health really is.

Depression and anxiety has affected all the women in my family and some point, so I wanted to find a way that I could give back and help to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. I got involved with Calgary Counselling Centre when my work team participated in United Way Days of Caring at CCC. Since then, I have volunteered my time, helping out the Fund Development and Communications departments with database analysis and mail outs as well as volunteering for their casino.

I got to a point where I wanted to give back more than just my time to this organization that helps so many people. I was able to donate through the United Way. The United Way portal lets you choose where your donation goes. You can donate to the larger community fund or designate your donation to a specific organization. I chose to have my donation go to CCC, as I believe they serve needs in the community not served by other organizations and I wanted to support mental health.

I encourage others to give back to Calgary Counselling Centre because there is a link between the economic decline and the increased need for services. They do such great work and they don’t turn anyone away due to their inability to pay so you can get help when you need it.

— Nikole Krentz

 

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