The dichotomy couldn’t be more stark: A man with an amputated leg sits on a skateboard as the only way to move around, freezing cold and in danger of losing his other limb, while people out for a good time sit around an indoor fire and drink cocktails mere feet away at Barbarella.

On quite literally a bone-chillingly cold Feb. 10 evening on Stephen Avenue, the difference between the visitors to the downtown who were enjoying an evening out and the homeless Calgarians who were fighting to survive on the streets couldn’t be more clear.

Add in the fast techno beats from one of the art displays along the avenue as part of Chinook Blast, and that scene wouldn’t be far outside of any dystopian film decrying, in blunt strokes, the outcomes of inequality.

Yet that is the backdrop for so many evenings during the coldest time of the year—and the reason why members of the Calgary Stampeders used their evening with local outreach organization BeTheChangeYYC to help, at least a few, have an easier time through the night.

“We take it for granted, and you think you know, and then you go out and you actually see it for yourself, and you really don’t know. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also great to be able to go out and actually put a smile on somebody’s face,” said Jay McNeil, President of the Calgary Stampeders.

“We’re here to help amplify their message, and what they’re doing in the community. If we can do that with any of our community partners, we want to be able to do that.”

That man on the skateboard got a cup of warm tea and directions to wraparound support. Others like him, like those who were huddling for warmth in the doorway to the former Stephen Avenue Safety Hub, or along 7 Avenue, also got help with clothing, food, and something warm to drink.

“Many folks are just walking around with blankets and the winter clothing that they have, and they’re like, ‘hey, do you have gloves? Do you have gloves? Do you have gloves?’ It’s the desperation of them knowing that how cold it is, and if they’re outside all night long—this is life-threatening, and people die every year because of the cold,” said Chaz Smith, Founder and CEO of BeTheChangeYYC.

Helping Calgarians make it through the night

Others get frostbite kits with iodine and Polysporin, to help treat the spread of infections that come from cold weather killing flesh.

“We want to prevent that from happening. So we hand out the winter gear, like jackets, mitts, toques, gloves, and hand and feet warmers,” said Smith.

Smith said that when support is given freely it means less social disorder. People with warm clothing and food to eat don’t turn to theft to solve their basic needs and turn to drugs to feel warm.

He said having the Stampeders along for a few hours hopefully opened their eyes and through the team, will open the eyes of more Calgarians.

“The feedback that I’ve heard is that it’s a whole new perspective on what experiencing homelessness actually is, and that these are just people. Sometimes, when you walk by another person… sometimes you’re afraid to interact. You don’t know what to do, how to say things,” Smith said.

“Then you realize right now that it’s just another human being, and simply offering the things that they need to survive is, is the humanity there. It is a great privilege to have them out, to be able to educate some football players and the president of the Calgary Stampeders who maybe have not experienced homelessness at this type of level of interaction, where they’ve had one-on-one conversations, they’ve had the opportunity to hand out gloves and hear people talk directly.”

That pitch to Calgarians to get involved was something that Smith came up with on a whim: #StampsForChange, said McNeil.

“That was a great hashtag that Chaz came up with, and I love it because one of the things we talk about our tagline is ‘Together We Ride,’ and that’s not us as a team, that’s not us as an organization, that’s us in the community,” he said.

Support, when given, can go far, said Smith. Of the nearly 20,000 individual contacts that BeTheChangeYYC had with unhoused Calgarians in 2024—every time the organization hands out support they track those numbers—it means thousands of lives are helped.

Whether that be with immediate support on a night like Monday, or through long-term direction to wrap-around support and access to housing.

For more details on BeTheChangeYYC, see bethechangeyyc.org.