Calgary initiative aims to empower city’s unhoused this holiday season

A Calgary initiative is looking to turn a birthday wish into a collaboration to empower people experiencing homelessness in Calgary this holiday season.

“This year for my birthday, I only asked for one thing. And it was to turn all my birthday gifts into a homeless makeover project and hundreds of gifts for those who need them the most — The homeless community of Calgary,” said Hiba Badran, Chair of Empowered Futures and CEO of GBCS Group, a local Calgarian company.

To make the wish come true, a group of volunteers and organizations came together through Empowered Futures (EF), an innovative Canadian non-profit organization, to provide more than 250 gift bags.

The bags are filled with jackets, warm clothing, warm food, haircuts, and other necessities the unhoused could take advantage of.

“I always say we have to grow the human in us the same as growing our business and professional careers. There are many beautiful humans in our very own city, Calgary, whose life and future can be impacted by our actions of giving back to our community,” Badran said.

“This is a value that we embrace in our charity organization, Empowered Futures, which is built around empowering and mentoring the youth between the ages of 18 to 28 to be resourceful professionals and execute goodwill projects to give back to those who are struggling in life.”

Badran adds acts of kindness make the world a better place.

“Always remember to keep your hearts warm and continue spreading that warmth to other people’s hearts. The world we live in needs it!” she said. “It did not start here and will not finish here.”

“We have an amazing surprise for 2023 where we are looking for more volunteers (especially the younger generation) to participate and be focal points for various goodwill projects or any donors who can make donations that can continue to help fuel these amazing initiatives.”

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Meanwhile, Shahab Seyedi, a volunteer at Empowered Futures, says the initiative gave him the opportunity to participate in a “meaningful” way to help others.

“As a local Calgarian, I never found any meaningful opportunities to volunteer directly in an initiative that has a direct impact on our communities. Especially since my line of professional work in the aerospace fleet industry does not involve these types of projects,” Seyedi said.

“This opportunity has been one of the most humbling things I personally have ever done. It’s amazing to see the execution of this project in an ego-free environment and work directly with those who need our support in our communities,” he said.

“Nothing beats the fulfillment you gain from actually being there, in person, and helping with the mission.”

Seyedi and Badran encourage everyone to take part and volunteer in the initiative. For more information about the heartfelt initiative visit EF’s website.