Our Place Society is a community centre a few blocks away from our Victoria office. They serve the city's most vulnerable people by providing housing, hot showers, free clothing, counselling, outreach, health and wellness services, and three meals a day (840,000 meals this year!).
We see the effects of poverty and homelessness every day downtown and wanted to find a way to help. After learning about Our Place, we got involved with a pro bono design project and started serving lunch there once a week. Their staff aim to create a space for hope and belonging, and this attitude really resonates with our team.
Inn from the Cold is a shelter near our Calgary office that offers homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, and supportive housing for families in crisis. This past winter, we volunteered in their kitchen making and packing lunches for kids to take to school.
We like getting to know more people in our communities and contributing to the positive impact of these organizations. Their efforts involve armies of volunteers and hard-working staff. While our time is a drop in the bucket, we're happy to have volunteered 150 hours this year to support their awesome work.
Update: Upanup has opened a third office in Kitchener, ON.