Calgary Flood 2013: Calgary and the Homeless Serving Sector Rally to Support Homeless Evacuees

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 24, 2013) - Almost 100,000 Calgarians were displaced due to Calgary Flood 2013 and amongst them have been men, women, youth, senior's and families from Calgary's emergency homeless serving sector.

According to CHF President and CEO, Dr. John Rook over 1200 homeless and formerly homeless Calgarians were directly impacted by the flood disaster. The majority of those individuals are being housed by the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre (DI) at their Greenview property as the main DI facility on Riverfront Ave in the East Village was evacuated Friday morning due to flooding. The remainder of the evacuees from the Alpha House Society MacLeod Trail emergency facility which experienced extensive flooding at its MacLeod Tr. shelter, Inn from the Cold family shelter which was evacuated on Thursday as a precaution and other women and youth shelters which have been affected, are being provided housing and support at the City of Calgary's Emergency Reception Centres as well as at other agency partners who have reached out to help. "This is an amazing city we live in and along with CACHH and all the agencies in the homeless serving sector, we are extremely grateful for everyone's support," says Rook.

As part of Calgary's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, the CHF owns 364 units in the city. One of its properties was evacuated and remains without power and another was not evacuated and has been without power since Thursday. There was no property damage to any CHF owned properties.

CHF along with the Calgary Action Committee on Housing and Homelessness (CACHH) and our partner agencies thank the Government of Alberta, the City of Calgary and our Federal stakeholders along with the many first responders, agency management and staff as well as the countless volunteers who ensured that everyone was safe and secure in the immediacy of this crisis. Calgarians continue to demonstrate their capacity, even amidst their own anguish and distress, to take care of their fellow citizens.

CHF and CACHH are working with the homeless serving sector and its government partners to identify the scope of the disaster on the homeless serving network. A coordinated plan is being developed that will provide detailed analysis of impact and the necessary resources to meet the needs of Calgary's homeless serving sector and the people it serves.

"We are all in this together and our goal is to work as a community to ensure everyone gets back home as quickly and efficiently as possible, with safety a top priority at all times," said Walter Twiddy, Chair of CACHH. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

At this time, CHF and CACHH encourage Calgarians to support the Canadian Red Cross (www.redcross.ca) and YYChelps (www.yychelps.ca) in their flood relief and coordination of volunteer efforts. Donations of food, clothing, furniture can be dropped off at Neighbourlink Calgary, 3751 21 St NE. Phone: 403-209-1930, Email: info@neighbourlinkcalgary.ca, for a list of items and hours of operation or check our FaceBook page -- https://www.facebook.com/#!/neighbourlinkcalgary .