But the past 14 months have also been the best of his 34-year career as the chief executive of. “As Calgarians, we should all be very proud of what was accomplished,” Birjandian says of helping individuals and families from Ukraine and Afghanistan, their numbers increasing our city’s annual intake of refugees and war evacuees 10-fold over previous years.
These newcomers are just one face of the continuing crisis of homelessness in our city, where an average of more than 3,000 people each year find themselves resorting to everything from living out of their vehicles and “couch surfing” — temporarily being housed by friends and family members — to living on the streets and in homeless camps along the Bow River downtown.Article contentChristmas Fund
From left, Derrell Buk, WINS district manager; Jenna Hubbell, store manager; and Karen Ramchuk, president and CEO. Together, they sort some of the Christmas items at Women in Need Society store in the Beltline.For years now, a prime engine for funding those programs and resources has been the Women In Need retail outlets, known better as the WINS stores; the thrift stores now number six, along with another dedicated to bulk buying and an online store.
From left, Ada Angeles, employee support worker for retail ready program; Luwam Kelati, store facilitator; and Shanice Saddleback, retail ready facilitator; they’re shown at Women in Need Society store in the Beltline on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.
You literally printed an article yesterday that talked about the market being slow