For the past two years, the semi-annual Pop-Up Care Village has provided for Calgary’s unhoused individuals a festival that focuses first on their needs.

Part of the philosophy behind the festival has been to continually re-evaluate the festival offerings, to find the right mix of social services, care, and entertainment.

But for the fourth iteration of the village, held at Olympic Plaza on Aug. 21, greater emphasis was put on the access, arts, and entertainment portions of the festival thanks to public health care work undertaken by University of Calgary students.

“This year we really are emphasizing the festivities that we have,” said Bill Zheng, Senior Event Manager with the Calgary Pop-Up Care Village.

Among those festivities were noon-time performances from musicians and a magician, an art show featuring the work of artists living with disabilities, and food from several vendors—all offered for free.

What was different this time around was a de-emphasis on the number of social service agencies present at the village, versus the previous three festivals held since 2022.

“There are definitely still a core service in terms of our partners, nonprofit partners, that are coming here. But the philosophy of this festival has absolutely changed. We are basically a place-making initiative in the core of downtown, and we’re making this a festival. Just think Lilac, think Stampede, that’s what we’re going for. This is kind of a baby step toward that,” Zheng said.

Zheng said that when he and co-founder Hanna Woodward began the festival, it was to take direct feedback from the hundreds of people who attend each event.

“That’s why we have survey takers today, to grab people’s individual feedback. And from that, we’re learning on how to improve for the next event,” he said.

“The University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing had a clinical placement here for the Pop-Up Care Village during the school year. So they did an environmental survey for folks to see what they want to do. This event is based on the feedback that we got from that as well.”

Feedback incorporated into festival activities

The feedback the nursing students received directly translated into a festival feature – a free clothing marketplace.

“It’s about dignity. Like, yes, people need their health care and housing—that’s very important, and there’s lots of that kind of stuff here— but it’s also just about feeling good about who you are, right?” said Dominique Denis-Lalonde, a Registered Nurse and Nursing Instructor at the University of Calgary.

“Getting your hair cut, because when was the last time you got to do that? It’s not free, it’s not cheap. Even things like taking care of your pets. Pets play an important role in many people’s lives. Things like food, it’s just like some of the basics of life,” Denis-Lalonde said.

She said that eight nursing students were talked to festival partners, service providers, health care providers, and of course festival attendees.

“We talked to people who had attended the festival, people who might consider attending the next one and getting a good sense of what could be done to make it more inviting, more inclusive, more accessible, what kind of services they’d like to see, what kind of food they want to see,” Denis-Lalonde said.

“We did a focus group. We did lots of one-on-one interviews. We did just random talking to people on the street. That was over three, four months, and then we presented all our findings with some recommendations for how to improve the public care village for this one, and I can see that a lot of those recommendations were implemented.”

She said that there was a misconception that nurses only work in hospitals and that helping to get ahead of health issues is very much a part of public health.

The work to help the festival better meet individuals by bring everything together in one place helps improve outcomes for unhoused individuals, said Denis-Lalonde.

“There’s a lot going on for people in general right now, and having an event like this, where everything comes together in one place, in a friendly environment, and they’re welcome to peruse, you really realize how much is out there but it’s scattered all over the city,” she said.

“So, when we bring it all together here, people can feel like they can access these services. They they think, ‘Ooh, I’ve heard of that before. There is a place where I can go for this.’ In small little increments that can help improve outcomes for people who are experiencing vulnerabilities.”