Join us today as we hear from Bennett Moody, Program Manager, about our first official wellness event! Read below for special behind the scenes, highlights, and of course, gratitude!
On June 10th the Calgary Dream Centre (CDC) hosted a large community Wellness Event. This event came together very quickly and saw remarkable support from various partners around the city. What started as a simple Hepatitis C screening offered on May 10th at the CDC through a study being done by LiveRx at the UofC, grew and expanded into a larger wellness event.
We partnered with over 20 organizations who offered a myriad of services to our clients, as well as to the general public—targeting the most vulnerable and underserved populations in our city. We were excited to be host to this event and enjoyed a great BBQ lunch, live music, and Indigenous drumming and dancing! We also had free coffee, tea, lattes, and cappuccinos served in the Lighthouse Cafe thanks to our CDC Recovery Alumni.
It was an incredible experience being a part of the planning team for this event. Organizing so many partners was a large undertaking. I am grateful for the team at LiveRx who championed this event so well. We wouldn’t have been able to offer so many services to our clients and guests without their connections and support.
As we reached out to organizations about participating at the event, we consistently had positive feedback. I quickly realized that we might not have enough space for all the organizations interested in attending and we certainly did not have enough tables for everyone—a huge thanks to the Drop-In Centre for letting us borrow 30 tables for the day!
The planning of the event was filled with moments of organizations going above and beyond to make the day possible. We even had three students and a supervisor from MC College join us to provide free haircuts having found out about the event just 5 days prior!
As the list of partners continued to grow, I was constantly amazed at how many organizations chose to work with us to make this event a success. The organizations present at the Wellness Event have differing approaches in how they support people who are unhoused and those battling addiction, but at the end of the day it was not about methodologies. It was about removing barriers to care for all who came and creating a safe place for everyone. And this was felt by those that attended the event.
There were many highlights for me during the event as I was able to have great conversations with guests that attended. Many had not heard of the CDC before, but thought it was incredible that we would open our doors to host this event. It was encouraging to see the surprise on people’s faces as I explained all the services that were available to them as I greeted them at the door.
I enjoyed seeing so many smiles from those sitting outside enjoying the music, drumming, and dancing. I was impressed by the CDC’s clients and Alumni who eagerly jumped in to help in various volunteer roles throughout the day—often without having been formally asked. Most notably for me though was hearing the genuine gratitude from guests for the meal that was provided—it was a strong reminder for me to not take what I have for granted.
I can’t wait for the next event, though I will probably leave the CTV News interview to someone else 😉
