Report to the Community 2024-2025

Thank you to all who attended this year’s Annual General Meeting & Program Showcase!

It was another fantastic year of growth and development!

Check out our Report to Community and snapshots from our Program Showcases!

Upset you missed all the fun? Check out the full AGM on Video through YouTube! Scroll below or visit True North’s YouTube Channel to check it out.

Report to Community 2024-2025 

Serving Our Community

Carly Cole, Manager of Programming & Client Services

Our 24-hour helpline is at the core of all of our programs. It is where support, safety and change begins… with that first call. Last year we received 1431 calls to that helpline each averaging about 15-20 minutes. Once a request for space comes though there are several steps such as safety planning, creating packing lists, arranging pet safekeeping and arranging transportation that are completed.

Many of you may know that True North is exceptional in the domestic violence world because we offer help to everyone, of every gender. True North was the first domestic violence shelter in Canada to offer help to men experiencing abuse back in 1993 and I am proud to report that since then we now have 5 shelters operating under the same model in Alberta!

Complexity & Needs

Carly Cole, Manager of Programming & Client Services

We had some very interesting data findings this past year. When we looked at the previous five years to this one about 17% of people stayed in the shelter longer than 30 days on average. This past year the same data shows that 42% of people stayed longer than 30 days. This tells us options for safety are becoming even more challenging to obtain due to housing costs and barriers to employment such as childcare, access to reliable transportation and experience.

We try to use the term abuse or family abuse over the term violence. When I say “violence” most of our brains are wired to think” hit, punch, throw or kick” and while physical violence is part of family abuse, its is not the only part. In fact we are seeing major spikes in stalking due to accessibility of new tracking technologies via apps and devices. We are equipped to deal with this, but because technology changes so rapidly we are in a constant cycle of learning and relearning to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technological safety.

Shelter is a “blanket” Term

Carly Cole, Manager of Programming & Client Services

Shelter is a blanket term for what we do and we are so much more than just a safe space to be. Our amazing team helps folks work through all sorts of issues like housing, employment, income supports, childcare, basic needs, counselling access and transportation. On any given day our team might be attending court to support with protection orders, arranging family outings to the Zoo or Science Centre, connecting with partner organizations to help with things like wearable safety devices or outing together moving packages with housewares, moving support and furniture. No two families are ever the same and our services adapt, flex and expand to meet the unique needs of everyone that comes through the door.

Shelter without the Shelter

Carly Cole, Manager of Programming & Client Services

Imagine you find yourself feeling unsafe no matter where you go, with hardship in finding suitable housing, affording the day to day needs and completely lost about how to navigate the family court system. All this is happening and maybe a friend or a family member has a safe place for you to stay so you think that a shelter services do not apply to you anymore. That is where outreach steps in, think of it as shelter, without the shelter. This team meets people in our building and in community spaces to provide one on one help in figuring out “what do I do next”. Outreach workers create pathways to next steps and a safe and sustainable future free of abuse.

Foundation of Prevention

Carly Cole, Manager of Programming and Client Services

My heart is very close to this program because it is where I started with True North. We are often asked the question “how do we end family violence and abuse?”. This is where education steps in. This program sees educators attend schools, workplaces and any other community space where education about red flags, healthy relationships and responses to abuse can aid in our community’s response to it. Knowledge on how to create and maintain healthy relationships is the foundation to preventing abuse in the first place. Our educators are available year-round, free of charge to speak in classrooms to children and youth about how they can create safety for themselves and others, Preventing violence before it starts.

Truly Special 

Mayra Sanchez – Team Lead

At True North, we have a free Home Library located in our communal area. It’s open to all children and youth, giving them the freedom to borrow books anytime. This simple resource helps encourage family bonding, reduces stress, and brings a sense of normalcy and autonomy during their stay with us.

Our Family Enjoyment Program is truly special—it gives families a chance to build positive memories together. It focuses on strengthening healthy, violence-free relationships in a safe environment. We organize meaningful activities like movie nights, birthday celebrations, and outings. Some memorable trips include visits to the zoo, the Royal Tyrrell Museum, and Cloud 9. During these outings, our Child & Youth staff and Family Support Coordinators are there to model and support positive parenting and family interaction.

We’re excited to be piloting a new Education Role at the end of this year! This role will help us better support children and youth in their learning, bridging gaps and encouraging educational growth during their time with us.

Family Support

Mayra Sanchez – Team Lead

The Family Support Coordinator has two branches of service:

• • First, the coordinator is focused on Early Intervention.
  • Implements the Ages and Stages Developmental Screening Program, promoting early childhood growth and milestone tracking.
  • Supports healthy family relationships and positive parenting practices, empowering caregivers through practical strategies and encouragement.
  • Tailors support to the unique needs of each family, fostering resilience and long-term success.
  • Provides one-on-one developmental support, helping families navigate early childhood needs.
  • Connects families with valuable community resources, ensuring holistic and accessible care.

The second peice is the Educational Support role – a New Family Support Initiative True North piloted near the end of this past fiscal year.

• • Recognizing that not all families and children can attend local schools, if they are out of the Golden Hills Division so we’re piloting a new, inclusive educational program.
  • The new Space is calm, welcoming, and nature-inspired, designed to reflect trauma-informed practices that promote emotional safety.
  • Focuses on foundational skills in literacy and numeracy, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and exploration in a supportive environment.
  • Aims to provide equitable educational opportunities, especially for children in transition or facing barriers to traditional schooling.
  • To date, Family Support has served 89 families, and with this pilot program, we aim to expand our reach even further. AS well as working collaborative with our Child and youth Program.

The Rec Room

Mayra Sanchez – Team Lead

To support families, True North also has a Rec Room. The Rec Room is a warm, welcoming space designed with early childhood and trauma-informed care in mind. It’s a place where kids can just be kids—playing, learning, and feeling safe. Last year, we supported 178 children, giving them access to a safe and fun environment and provided over 2,914 hours of direct programming focused on play, learning, and connection. There were more than 1,212 visits to The Rec Room where our Child & Youth team worked closely with the Family Support Coordinators. Together, we offer wraparound care—supporting both children and their families every step of the way.

The Rec Room

Mayra Sanchez – Team Lead

As you can see, True North offers comprehensive wraparound services, working closely with many community partners to ensure holistic support for our clients.  True North has successfully discharged 158 clients with personalized safety plans, completed 46 danger assessments, and made 439 referrals to essential community resources!

The Housing Crisis

Amanda Vanderlaan – Manager of Research and Development

So what is next for our clients?

With rising inflation and a shortage of affordable housing, after an average stay of 31 days in emergency shelter, survivors are faced with a housing crisis. In our last year, just over 50% of clients achieved some type of stable housing either through ownership, rental, shared accommodation or subsidized housing.

However, 24.2% of individuals have moved to unstable housing, staying family & friends or couch surfing, while over 17% of survivors risk houselessness.

During their stay with us, we do our best to support survivors as they navigate the housing crisis and we depend heavily on our partnerships to connect survivors to the services needed when they journey on from our program. But we must recognize that the growing complexity and needs of our clients put strain on an already strained system.

The Housing Crisis

Amanda Vanderlaan – Manager of Research and Development

In response, we’ve developed Finding Your True North, an innovative affordable housing project.

Finding Your True North will feature safe accommodation and trauma-informed programming for those who have experienced abuse. With client-centered programming, our housing solution will play a vital role in addressing the intersectional challenges of relationship violence and homelessness and support individuals as they rebuild their lives after violence.

We’re closer than ever to piloting this project and remain hopeful and excited about its progress.

(Learn more about the project and you can help, here: Finding Your True North)

Strengthening Relationships

Amanda Vanderlaan – Manager of Research and Development

In 2023, Siksika Nation & True North signed and MOU to create a stronger, more collaborative partnership.

What does that look like?

• • In 2024-2025 True North invested more in supporting Indigenous community development, supporting Indigenous-led campaigns such as Red Dress Day and National Indigenous Peoples Day.
  • The True North undertook more professional development. We visited Blackfoot Crossing to participate in Indigenous teachings and most recently Gaylene Rain led our staff in making ribbon skirts.
  • In our residential program, we offer survivors sweetgrass & smudging opportunities, traditional crafts, and Elder circles.
  • In our last year, we have served 30 Indigenous-identifying survivors, made 173 referrals to Indigenous supports, and provided 20 culture-specific services residentially.

Building Youth Resiliency

Amanda Vanderlaan – Manager of Research and Development

In 2025, True North also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trellis, a Family Resource Network in the Strathmore & Chestermere area that provides support to youth and families. Through our teen-drop in partnership, we design to provide safe, supportive & engaging spaces, improve teen access to resources & support, build positive relationships with and among teens, and improve teen participation in activities.

This partnership is a foundational element of our prevention efforts that work to reduce the occurrence of abuse by promoting & modelling healthy, respectful relationships. Teen-drop-in has become a staff and community favorite, as of our Child & Youth worker has shared, “the same familiar faces walk thorough the Trellis doors – whether its learning to cook a meal, picking up a hammer for the first time, or playing a few rounds of Mario Kart, these moments create a space where teens can breathe, laugh, and just be…. It’s a highlight of my week to be part of these moments. They are a reminder of the impact a welcoming space can have.”

Our Impact

Amanda Vanderlaan – Manager of Research and Development

As you can see, we have a lot to be grateful for. But there’s so much more happening behind the scenes for us to celebrate.

Each day, survivors reach out to True North from different communities, with different needs, different obstacles, and different goals for the future. We recognize the capacity of each human to find their strengths and exert their autonomy along their journey. In this last year, 81% of survivors reported improved feelings of confidence and self-esteem after leaving our residential program. 82% of survivors reported an improved understanding of healthy boundaries. And in our community programming, we reached over two thousand and seven hundred people.

As helpers, our future is bright –

I’ll leave you with a quote from a participant in our residential program: “I am very grateful for your support and having patience with me. I truly am grateful for you and giving me the time to get me on my feet again. Being heard and listened to, is a first for me, and it is amazing to see that I am cared for.”

Program Showcase

Public Education

Outreach