When someone is experiencing homelessness and near starvation, they do whatever they need to survive. When Deb was caught in the act of shoplifting food, she was arrested and hauled away. But that dark moment truly led to a chance for redemption.
“It was pretty darn scary,” Deb says. “But because I had no criminal record and I was experiencing mental health problems, I was put into the Diversion program.” The program, which aims to support Albertans to access services to address their needs, instead of pushing them into the justice system, opened new doors to Deb.
One of those doors was CUPS.
Deb has experienced homelessness, depression, addiction, lack of food and social isolation. She also has a Master’s Degree, a quick sense of humour and a career background in the non-profit sector. In her five years being treated as a whole person as a CUPS client, Deb has found her way to brighter days.
Now, Deb is happy to be helping CUPS improve its resources for Calgarians in need.
“My case worker asked if I would consider joining a group to talk about ways to make CUPS better,” says Deb. “I agreed right away.”
CUPS has been helping Calgarians who are experiencing poverty and trauma, get to the root causes of their challenges and change their lives for 34 years.
Now, with the input of the very clients they work with, CUPS is listening, learning and improving their services. The Client Advisory Committee began meeting in early 2023 to provide support to CUPS’ strategic work and to incorporate clients’ voices throughout the organization.
Nicole Williams is one of five CUPS staff members supporting the new committee. In her role as Interim Organizational Evaluation Team Lead, Nicole uses data to support CUPS’ commitment to being a learning organization and to identify opportunities for change. The Client Advisory Committee is one of the ways CUPS is incorporating client voice throughout the work of the organization.
“We’ve had great success with the Client Advisory Committee,” says Nicole. “We have an amazing group of 10 clients who all have a desire to make CUPS the best it can be.”
Meetings are held once a month and are both grassroots and strategic. “We don’t have a chair for the meetings, and the staff are only there to support the group,” Nicole explains. “We have information sessions about the work CUPS does, and then have a conversation – what works, what could be improved? We leave each meeting with lists of things to do!”
For Deb, the committee helps give her purpose and a feeling of being useful.
“The meetings are very positive and the staff are open to our suggestions. I have something to offer and I’m heard,” says Deb.
“CUPS changed my life. Now I can help give that to other people.”