Read - 50 Stories Part 9 In 1979, Board Chair Hilde Houlding proclaimed the departure of Dr. Stew Clark as Executive Director and the hiring of Jeanette McEachern as the “end of a beginning.” Jeanette served as Executive Director for 18 years, and was variously described as passionate, fearless, formidable, and a legend in her [...]
Read - 50 Stories Part 8 Throughout the 70s, funding was an ongoing challenge. Ken Low noted that generally: “Funding is a problem for any pioneering endeavour, funders use a criteria and metrics for leading edge initiatives, to get supports.” The Drug Information Centre (DIC) was seen to be short on such formal metrics, on [...]
50 Stories Part 8: Day and Night, They Were the Ones Read - 50 Stories Part 7 From the first days of the Drug Information Centre, volunteers have been key to its success. Since most early volunteers did not have any formal training in counselling, it was not uncommon to run into [...]
Image: A contact card from 1979. Some information removed to protect confidentiality. Read - 50 Stories Part 6 Compared to the first five years of DIC operations, 1976-1979 were relatively uneventful. Reliable, ongoing funding was the major administrative issue. Co-ordinator Penny Cairns noted in a 1976 staff meeting that fundraising was taking up so much [...]
Image: From a December 1973 issue of the Calgary Herald. Read - 50 Stories Part 5 In the early 1970s, outreach to clients, to the local community and to other professionals formed significant parts of the Drug Information Centre’s work. By 1975, funders were also demanding such collaboration. One major initiative was The House. Opening [...]
Image: From a 1972 newspaper. Read - 50 Stories Part 4 At the end of 1971, the Drug Information Centre (DIC) continued at its original location, operating 24/7. Education, crisis support and counselling regarding drug issues remained the main goals. Policy decisions were arrived at through group discussion. A grant of $2,000 from Junior League [...]
Read - 50 Stories Part 3 While smoking dope and ‘finding themselves,’ Canadian youth were crossing the country in large numbers during the late 1960s and early 70s. It was a lifestyle most cities and towns were unprepared to deal with. Social supports were slowly being put into place, but never without controversy. To enable [...]
Image: An ad in the Calgary Herald in 1970. Read - 50 Stories Part 2 Although it was the general concern for youth encountering the drug culture that prompted the original Drug Advisory committee members to come together, there was a much more pressing issue for the larger Calgary community. Sex, drugs and rock and [...]
Pictured: The Drug Information Centre logo. Read - 50 Stories Part 1 Distress Centre got its start in 1970 as the Drug Information Centre (DIC). It came to life at a time when psychedelic drugs and cannabis were emerging concerns, along with other street drugs, the misuse of legal drugs, and alcohol. “Calgary was a [...]
Welcome to 50 stories for 50 years, the history of Distress Centre Calgary from 1969 to the present. My name is Donna Crawford, and I am a volunteer who has the honour and pleasure of guiding you on this journey; a very different kind of guidance than provided by those volunteers at the original Drug [...]
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, Distress Centre Calgary would like to honour and acknowledge Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations – Indigenous and non – who live, work and play on this land, and who honour and celebrate this territory.
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