2020 was a tough year for so many in our community who faced uncertainties, stress, depression, isolation, changes in daily structures (work/school from home), added pressures, and financial hardships. We are humbled by the generosity from many individuals, organizations, foundations and corporations who stepped up to support Calgary Counselling Centre clients and their families and help address the growing need for mental health services last year.

A huge thank you to all organizations and donors who supported us, including:

A group of 95 donors, spearheaded by Steve Rowles and Last Best Brewing & Distilling’s Adam Snelling, together raised funds to support Men’s Mental Health initiatives at CCC.

The Calgary Flames Foundation recognized mental health would be an important issue in our city during the pandemic and immediately dispersed funds in the community to a number of organizations including CCC.

The COVID-19 Community Response Fund, a collaboration between United Way of Calgary and Area and the City of Calgary was a city wide effort, with Calgary Foundation, to ensure social service agencies in Calgary and area could quickly provide emergency funds to the most vulnerable in our community.

The Calgary Foundation who provided leadership in supporting the emerging needs through their Pandemic Recovery Program, with phases of funding from recovery, re-entry and rebuilding, and resiliency to help provide charities and non-profit organization serving communities experiencing vulnerability. CCC is particularly grateful for the recovery phase funding that supported the needed technology enhancements that allowed CCC to immediately pivot to virtual counselling services, ensuring the needs of Calgarians were met without disruptions.

The United Way of Calgary COVID-19 Emergency Community Support Fund made Urgent Access to Mental Health Services for Vulnerable Youth, ages 19 to 24, possible. The Emergency Community Support Fund provided rapid response emergency funding, supporting 195 agencies across Calgary and the surrounding area.

The Government of Alberta Mental Health and Addiction COVID-19 Community Fund supported initiatives to improve individual, family, and community mental health in Alberta and helped people build resilience to adapt to the stress of COVID-19.

The City of Calgary provided support to non-profits and social service organizations through the Emergency Resiliency Fund. This helped us to increase access to mental health support for families and individuals impacted by the pandemic.

From early on a number of individuals provided support through the CanadaHelps’ COVID-19 Community Care Fund, which ensured clients had no barriers to access services. Gore Mutual CanadaHelps COVID-19 Community Care Fund matched donations to provide support to vulnerable communities affected by COVID-19.

Many of these were new donors giving to CCC for the first time including former clients and their families.

Our end-of-year campaigns saw two generous donors step up to encourage others to support subsidized counselling services at CCC with matching funds to double their impact. This included the Auxilium Foundation, which are committed to Canadian social, health, and educational issues, as well as an anonymous donor who together matched donations dollar for dollar up to $105,000. This anonymous donor shared why giving back is important to him:

“My son had a difficult mental health journey through his late teens and early 20’s. Counselling at CCC allowed him to take ownership of his own care and relationships in a way that would have been impossible without access to subsidized counselling. I’ve supported CCC for the last decade to show my appreciation for the help that was given to him in his time of need and to ensure others have access to subsidies.”

Thank you again to all of our donors for your generosity and confidence in our work. Through your ongoing commitment to mental health, Calgarians have access to the highest standards of counselling and unparalleled client results without financial barriers or wait lists.