Through it ALL
Wood’s Homes is here for you.
The Through it ALL campaign will raise $40M to replace outdated facilities and increase capacity for therapeutic mental health treatment.
This $40M campaign will:
Increase our immersive, live-in care capacity by 28% (from 64 to 82).
Offer therapeutic safe spaces focused on healing.
Build families back up from the weight of their children’s mental health challenges.
Create new buildings that offer culturally appropriate spaces for Indigenous gatherings, teachings, and ceremonies.
21st Century care demands facilities that are safe and foster a therapeutic environment.
Who is Wood's Homes?
Wood’s Homes is a mental health centre. We provide treatment and support for children, young people, adults and families with mental health needs.
Children and youth that come to Wood’s Homes for live-in, on-site care exhibit extreme behaviours like self-harm or violence towards others. They have tried everything to stop their pain. When a family enters Wood’s Homes, they often have little hope for their child or for their family. When a young person experiences a mental health crisis, there is a collective trauma that not only threatens their own life, but can shatter their family. Through it all, we are here for them – for families that have given it their all.
Parkdale Campus capital project goal: $7M
A new 10-bed, state-of-the-art facility
This new building will provide temporary accommodation for young people from the Bowness Campus while buildings are constructed there. Following the expansion, this facility will provide space for contemporary immersive care, and be available for new initiatives addressing critical mental health needs in our community.
Bowness Campus capital project goal: $31M
Wood’s Homes is undertaking a vital modernization project to construct four new therapeutic campus-based care centres on the Bowness Campus. These centres are stages two and three of our multi-year revitalization journey and will bring the total on-site capacity to 40.
Program support fund goal: $2M
In addition to capital costs associated with modernizing and expanding our facilities, we also must continue to ensure that youth have access to supports that go far beyond the temporary shelter.
On-going specialized treatment and recovery support is unique for young people, and one more way that Wood’s Homes can be here for them, on their mental health journey, through it all.
Examples of program investment areas at several of our locations include:
- Family counselling and therapeutic services
- Community mental health hubs
- Youth employment and wrap-around services
- Wood’s Homes Research Chair in Children’s Mental Health in partnership with the University of Calgary
Why now?
The buildings that youth at Wood’s Homes currently call home were constructed in the early 1960s with the intent to simply ‘house’ children. These facilities no longer meet the complex treatment needs seen in the 21st Century. The buildings’ life cycles have extended far beyond acceptable standards for functionality, therapy, and everyday use. They are not only cramped, but pose safety obstacles and do not provide accessibility for clients who rely on wheelchair access or have other physical limitations.
Long-term sustainability is part of our campaign goal. Capital maintenance costs and operating expenses are included in our on-going government contracts. Demand far exceeds our current capacity, and, as hospitalizations increase, so has the request for our services.
These buildings will:
Here are the facts
- Only 1 in 5 children who need mental health services receives treatment
- Mental health disorders in youth are the 2nd highest hospital care expenditure in Canada
- Research shows that with an earlier intervention, children will more likely return to positive mental health
Partner Spotlight
We are excited to announce our partnership with PETRONAS Canada, who are contributing $450,000 towards our capital campaign.
This gift will not only transform the therapeutic environment at Wood’s Homes, but bring our facilities up to 21-century levels of support, safety, and efficiency so children and young people can grow, heal, and thrive.
“There is a huge demand for immersive care beds here in Alberta – we never have enough. Getting into Wood’s Homes should not feel like winning the lottery. We should be the start of the journey for families, not their last resort.”
– Bjorn Johansson, CEO
Mental health challenges can happen to anyone, we know this. It impacts all of us. And we know the pandemic made it so much worse – the isolation, increased stressors, and lack of in-person supports that are essential for mental well-being. Many people who were fine before the pandemic are not fine now. We are just beginning to see the wave of trauma; it is coming home to roost. There is a huge demand for immersive care beds here in Alberta – we never have enough. Getting into Wood’s Homes should not feel like winning the lottery. We should be the start of the journey for families, not their last resort.
– Bjorn Johansson, CEO
I felt a great sense of excitement when my colleagues and I came together to create an Indigenous Allyship Toolkit that now is a guide to honouring culture, supporting inclusion, and authentic collaboration.
This excitement is connected to the active participation of many diverse people who are striving to create safe and equitable spaces for Indigenous peoples. Over the past five past years, considerable effort has been made to create cultural safety for Indigenous children and families within the Wood’s Homes community.
The process of growth for our organization includes a steady commitment to following the guidance of the many Elders and Knowledge Keepers who have taught us about the unique ways Indigenous children, young people and families connect to community and each other. This is done through protocol - the passing of prints and tobacco - to earn the many cultural gifts of knowledge we hold today. This guides us to new ways of being in relationship with all those we hold close to our heart.
Let us continue to learn, grow, and heal together. Let us create the ‘good life’ so future generations can be successful in ways they choose to be in this world.
– Matotisân asinîy Tye Rhyno, Manager, Indigenous Initiatives
“I felt a great sense of excitement when my colleagues and I came together to create an Indigenous Allyship Toolkit that now is a guide to honouring culture, supporting inclusion, and authentic collaboration.
This excitement is connected to the active participation of many diverse people who are striving to create safe and equitable spaces for Indigenous peoples. Over the past five past years, considerable effort has been made to create cultural safety for Indigenous children and families within the Wood’s Homes community.
The process of growth for our organization includes a steady commitment to following the guidance of the many Elders and Knowledge Keepers who have taught us about the unique ways Indigenous children, young people and families connect to community and each other. This is done through protocol – the passing of prints and tobacco – to earn the many cultural gifts of knowledge we hold today. This guides us to new ways of being in relationship with all those we hold close to our heart.
Let us continue to learn, grow, and heal together. Let us create the ‘good life’ so future generations can be successful in ways they choose to be in this world.”
– matotisân asinîy Tye Rhyno, Manager, Indigenous Initiatives
Our supporters
Wood’s Homes Foundation extends its heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed partners for their generous lead gifts to the “Through it ALL” campaign. Their unwavering support and commitment play a pivotal role in helping us provide critical services and support to children, young people, and families in need. By standing with us, these partners help ensure that we can continue our mission of fostering resilience, healing, and growth within our communities.
In partnership with Alberta Health Services for over three decades, Wood’s Homes is part of the continuum of care alongside our community partners.
In addition to our core partners, and in order to ensure that we are providing a continuum of care to the youth of our communities, we work in collaboration with the Calgary Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health/The Summit: Marian and Jim Sinneave Centre for Youth Resilience.
What would you give to save a child’s life?
Bryan Goehringer
Help us ensure access and programs for kids and families who require immersive on-site care:
403-270-1724
[email protected]
Parkdale Campus:
805 37 St. NW
Calgary, AB T2N 4N8
Phone: 403-270-4102
View our case for support here.
If you require mental health support from Wood’s Homes, please call:
1-800-563-6106
403-299-9699
Charitable Number: 891849218 RR0001