For Jamie, a man experiencing homelessness in Calgary, resources like the Drop-In Center (DI) were a lifesaver on his journey through addiction, recovery, and ultimately rekindling relationships with his family.

As the main character in the DI’s new short film, I Want to Come Home, Jamie is a fictitious character who embodies the realities DI helps manage daily.

“It’s not any one person’s story. It’s a mash-up of numerous different individuals who shared their lived experience with us to pull that story together,” Sandra Clarkson, President and CEO of the DI.

“Part of the timing, of course, is our holiday campaign, which is our biggest fundraising drive of the year.”

Though the DI has seen great success, housing an average of 50 individuals per month, the homeless-serving organization is also seeing an average of 150 new people entering the shelter for the first time each month, according to a DI-issued press release.

Currently, the centre is working towards its $2 million fundraising goal to support programs and services that collectively support up to 1,000 people per day during the winter season. Though addiction is a reality for some folks, Clarkson said that anyone can find themselves in the DI.

“We want to make sure that people understand that not everyone that experiences homelessness is also dealing with addiction and or mental health (issues). In fact, the majority of people that have mental health and addiction issues are housed,” she told LWC.

“It is unfortunately all too common when people have lost connection and it was really intended to tell the story of really how this can happen to anybody. You get into an accident, pain medication becomes used for purposes it wasn’t originally intended to do and things can unravel really quickly.”

The DI is a gateway to access the services that someone needs to end their experience of homelessness, Clarkson said.

Of the people entering the centre, many don’t stay long. Clarkson said their goal is to redirect as many people out of the shelter as possible, but with the combination of the affordability crisis and the cost of food, it becomes very difficult.

“Rents are starting to come down in Calgary, which is great news, but they’re still really high. When we say affordable, we’re not talking $100 below market; that’s not affordable. It’s that deeply affordable housing that we need. There’s a number of people that are with us that are not suitable or appropriate for housing programs that currently exist, and so they literally have nowhere else to go, we need to fill those gaps,” she said.

“We’re always advocating for high needs, 24/7 supportive housing programs, of which, really, there’s a huge gap in the system.”

Advocating without reinforcing stereotypes

For the DI, the reality is that many guests have been impacted by opioids and the increase in fentanyl in recent years, but not everyone.

“These drugs are absolutely devastating, but not everybody that’s experiencing homelessness is also experiencing addiction, but the opioid crisis has forever fundamentally changed the work that we do in shelter,” Clarkson said.

“In 2018, which was the first year that we started recording drug poisonings, we had 87 in a 12-month period. In 2024, we had over 2400 in a 12-month period. It impacts people.”

Recently, the DI has heavily advocated for withdrawal management and recovery transition programs, knowing that for many, the addiction phase that they were in would be preventing them from successfully transitioning to housing.

Working with people experiencing homelessness is really hard, some of the hardest and most emotional work out there. Clarkson said that ending homelessness every day is what keeps her and the staff optimistic.

“We’re doing it one person at a time and yes, it’s daunting when you’ve got 50 going out the door and 150 coming in. But it’s possible, and we’re going to do it. We need to build more housing and deeply affordable housing and specialized housing, but it’s possible,” she said.

“The topic of housing is on every political agenda right now, whether it be the federal government, provincial government, or municipal government, and so we need to take advantage of that window and build more affordable housing.”

Community ties in every aspect

Played throughout the film is an original song titled “Letters”, written by local musical duo Wheels. 

Jay Weber, one of two band members and the song’s writer, said contributing their art to the DI’s mission was very important.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve done before, I thought about it for a couple days and it’s kind of a heavy subject, so I kind of mulled over it,” Weber said.

“I have a couple friends that have had issues with addiction in the past, and it’s kind of something that’s close to home, so I sort of just went with it. I didn’t know what the video was actually going to be, what it would look like, but I just sort of wrote.”

The DI provides people, especially in a town like Calgary, where it’s cold and tough to live on the streets, with crucial resources, Weber told LWC.

“I mean, being a musician, I’ve played a lot of small bars, and I’ve played around town a lot, and a lot of them are in those places where a lot of homeless people are living and existing, and I’ve seen it firsthand,” he said.

“Any way that we can contribute as artists to mitigating the issue of addiction and homelessness, I think we should try. As a musician, the one way that we can is contributing some art to the cause. So, it was an honour. It was an honour to be asked to do something for the Drop-In Centre.”

As the holidays and the most wonderful time of the year approach, for many, December is not so wonderful. At the DI, they make an effort to bring holiday cheer where they can.

“The holidays can be a joyful time, or they can be a very lonely time, but it’s also an opportunity to reconnect folks with their family and natural support, so we try to do that as much as possible. The team that’s working through the holidays do what they do to make a nicer environment,” Clarkson said.

The centre also gets sponsored holiday meals with turkey and all the trimmings and they give out gifts to the guests, generally a travel mug full of goodies.

“We really do try to ensure that each and every person who’s with us gets something and feels recognized, seen and cared for,” Clarkson said.