Calgary Food Bank opening new downtown location – Calgary

The Calgary Food Bank will soon be opening a new downtown location.

The organization called the addition “a critical step toward reducing barriers and increasing accessibility for vulnerable Calgarians.”

Located in the Neoma Building at 706 – 7 Ave. S.W., it’s just steps away from the CTrain, which, according to Calgary Food Bank CEO Melissa From, more than 25 per cent of clients use to pick up their hampers.

“One of the things we know is that one of the biggest pockets of need we have is in the downtown core and the Beltline area,” said From as she showed off the new location to media and other dignitaries Tuesday morning.

The current Calgary Food Bank is located at 5000-11 Street S.E ., but that’s a long way from downtown.

“For some folks, it’s not bad. It’s a bus right down to the main warehouse,” said From. “But for some folks who are living in the northwest or northeast corners of the city, we are talking hours on a bus, multiple transfers, sometimes with small children, and then on their way home with bags and bags of groceries. It’s not dignified. It’s not kind.”

She added, “we’re making food more accessible — we are actually going to bring the food bank to them — and we are going to be here in the heart of the downtown core.”

According to From, the Calgary Food Bank serves about 6,300 people a year from the downtown core, noting that the Beltline area has the largest low-income population in Calgary.

With the downtown population estimated to grow by eight per cent over the next three years, thousands more hampers will be needed.

The downtown location, expected to open this summer, will serve up to 200 households, or about 600 people per day. That’s in addition to the 800 people already being served at the existing food bank location.

“There’s going to be produce, there’s going to be freezers and coolers of dairy and all of those good things,” explained From. “Our clients are going to be able to come in like any other Calgarians on a normal weeknight who goes grocery shopping, and they’re going to be able to pick their own food and decide for themselves what’s important for their family — how they want to eat meat, their cultural and dietary needs — without the intervention of someone else choosing their food for them.”

The location will share the building with the Inn From The Cold, which offers emergency shelter for families, supportive housing and homelessness prevention programs.

Heather Morley, CEO of Inn From The Cold, calls it an ideal location. “We’re focused on families and individuals experiencing homelessness and the Calgary Food Bank is all about making sure that people have the food that they need, and we know that food insecurity and housing instability go hand in hand,” said Morley.

From said one of the fastest growing demographics served by the food bank is the working poor — with 19 per cent having full-time employment and another 20 per cent with part-time or seasonal employment.

“So there’s a lot of folks who by all intents and purposes are doing everything right,” said From. “Yet, by the time they pay the mortgage and the heat and the car payments and those other sort of primary budget lines in the household, there’s just not enough left for the food budget.”

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