Calgary families in need being 'adopted' by generous donors for the holidays

Stephanie Visn is expecting her third boy close to Christmas. She and her husband are from Romania and say being adopted by generous Calgarians has helped them celebrate over the holidays.

Closer to Home launched its Adopt-a-Family campaign in the middle of October and more than 3,000 people have reached out for help this holiday season.

"Food security is really top of mind for a lot of families," said Sarah Anne Taylor, the organization's senior manager of philanthropy.

"Thirty-nine per cent of parents and caregivers are actually forgoing their own meals to make sure that their kids have what they need to get through the day. So it's why programs and supports like Adopt-a-Family are more crucial than ever this year."

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Taylor says the program is in its 15th year and started off relatively small when it began in 2009.

"In that first year, we gave physical gifts, food hampers and we supported 52 families and raised just over $10,000 and since then it's exponentially grown," she said.

"Between 2020 and 2023, we raised over $2 million with all of that going back to our families and last year we supported the highest number of families ever (861) in our campaign's history."

Now, instead of physical gifts and food, Closer to Home gives gift cards to families in need so they can purchase food, clothing, hygiene items and other basic necessities they need.

"And also, something special for the holiday season that may not otherwise have been in their budget," said Taylor.

"We're really lucky that Calgary has a strong philanthropic spirit, every single year we have loyal donors that come back to us, they love this campaign, it has deep roots in our community, not only for our donors but for the families that we support."

Jovanna Rodney, the organization's program coordinator, says many families she's been in contact with are struggling to make payments for rent, groceries and their utilities and are living in a delicate balance.

"A lot of the new families (to the program) who have reached out for support have either had new children come into the picture," she said.

"Maybe they've lost a job or lost a partner who was the breadwinner for the family and was bringing in the majority of the income."

Jessica Old works as community connector at Closer to Home and says even when families are working really hard to make ends meet, they're still having a hard time coping with inflation, and that's not something she's seen in the past.

"When you see how little work it takes to make a huge impact on these families it's powerful and amazing and drives us to do what we do," she said.

"It's really empowering to see these families coming in and they're feeling connected, they're reducing their isolation and they're also getting to give to their kids and provide Christmas and bring that magic back so I'm very lucky to get to be on this side where we get to see that impact."

Closer to Home is always looking for new donors to support the program as the numbers continue to increase. It says any amount can provide relief and a sense of holiday magic for parents and caregivers.

Taylor says the charity hopes to have all donations and families matched by Dec. 15 so that it can distribute all the gift cards before the holidays. But donations will still be accepted until the new year if it cannot match all families by the deadline.

Learn more about Adopt-a-Family here.