Wood's Homes Blog

Since 2005, Wood’s Homes Lethbridge has hosted a Gala Dinner in the spring of each year. The event is theme-based (Cinderella, Peter Pan, Pinocchio) with amazing decorations and decor, coupled with great food and live entertainment. It’s an event people look forward to every year. The guest speakers are typically previous clients of Wood’s Homes and are always a highlight, as they share their stories and how Wood’s Homes supported them along the way.  The generosity of the business community, countless volunteer hours, amazing committee members and leadership from Wood’s Homes, make this the Gala of the Year!

I have had the pleasure of working at Wood’s Homes for over nine years, first as the Director of Fund Development, and then more recently as Philanthropy Advisor. And now as I retire from my career in fundraising, I have been reflecting on what I have accomplished the last 40 years. Without question, working at Wood’s Homes has been a highlight for me.

Kinga and I have had the esteemed opportunity in attending and supporting a variety of local fundraising efforts over the past decade or so. We have found that during that time, while we have been living, working and raising a family in our community, Wood’s Homes has become an increasingly special place that we have come to call our own. After we became aware of all of the services that Wood’s provides, it truly hit home with us – raising three children of our own, we always knew that we hoped they didn’t need the services of Wood’s Homes, but rested in the comfort of knowing Wood’s is there.

March is Social Work month in Canada.

When I left university two years ago with a political science degree, I never thought I’d find myself in the social work profession. When I discuss my educational background, people often ask what led me into this profession, but to me social work and politics are closely intertwined. However, social work and its role in the political arena is overlooked.

I don’t know about you, but when it’s particularly cold outside (and it has been COLD), my favourite thing to do is curl up in front of a fire with a blanket and a good book.

This has always been my go-to for self-care and relaxation, and it has me thinking about the importance of stories in the lives of families and children. Francis Spufford in his book  A Life in Reading, sagely said that “the words we take into ourselves help to shape us,” describing how he developed through reading books, but also how books helped him manage a difficult childhood in many ways.

As someone who has been striving to better my practice as a social worker, manager and student, I was originally under the impression that discussing and defining excellence in practice would be an easy feat. While I do believe there are some skills sets that are vital to effective practice in the human service field, such as giving and receiving feedback with grace or using active listening skills, I have come to realize there is so much more to an excellent social worker or human service practitioner than the hard and fast skills taught from a textbook. 

I am the Community Engagement Coordinator at Wood’s Homes, and feel proud to reflect on the positive impact consistent corporate engagement has on our organization.

We work hard here to get the word out about Wood’s Homes and the important programs and services we provide to vulnerable children and families.  And it looks like Calgary’s corporate community has been listening more than ever these past few years. Our work depends on the generosity of the corporate community and we feel fortunate to count so many champions in the Wood’s Homes family.

As a Master’s student in the clinical social work stream looking for – yet another – practicum, I had become disenchanted with the practice of experiential learning. In previous years, I had engaged in practicums that left me feeling lackluster, frustrated and exhausted with the system. During this search for the perfect opportunity to develop and expand my clinical ‘pallet’, I feel it is also worth mentioning that I was pregnant!

Convinced that I could do it all – the Masters of Social Work program, my clinical hours and raising a baby – I set out on a mission to make this practicum count. Knowing that my daughter would be a mere 12-weeks-old when I began the journey, it became even more important that these hours counted. So, the search began… and it was short.

Over the past 10 years, all three levels of government, the private sector, non-profit and health institutions have partnered together in the 10 Year Plan To End Homelessness. As part of this plan, members of Calgary’s youth homeless-serving sector and community met in 2017 to launch the 2018 Refresh of the Calgary Plan to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness.

Well, it’s almost the end of January and we all know what that means – many of our New Year’s Resolutions have already lost their way. In fact, a recent study has shown that the majority of such resolutions don’t make it past Jan. 12. If you were one of the 80% of individuals who set unrealistic expectations that you weren’t able to meet, you were not alone.