People across the greater-Edmonton region are invited to Bissell Child Care (9331 105 Ave. Edmonton) on March 28, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for its spring open house. Bissell Centre’s child care program is catered to children newborn to six-years-old, with spaces reserved for families needing full time care or respite care.
“This is an excellent opportunity for parents to see first-hand what makes Bissell Child Care so unique,” says Jaye Brown, Manager of the Early Childhood Development Program with Bissell Centre. “This is a space where programming has benefited countless children and continues to give them an incredible start to life before they enter kindergarten.”
A History of Quality Child Care in Edmonton
Bissell Centre has been running a respite child care program since the 1970s, expanding to offering full-time child care services when its new child care space opened in 2020. Children attending Bissell Child Care receive one meal and two snacks every day (provided by Bissell Harvest Catering), can attend field trips all summer long, and have access to specialized supports — all at no additional cost to parents.
“Bissell Child Care is not only for families living in the downtown core and experiencing instability,” says Brown. “We are an inclusive environment that recognizes how everyone can be a part of this community and we welcome all children and their family.”
Crucial to Bissell Centre’s Mission in the Community
Guests can treat themselves to light snacks and refreshments as they explore the nature-inspired space where children play, learn, and thrive. Educators and leaders will be on-site during the event to answer questions and provide guided tours with more information on what parents can expect when sending their children to Bissell Child Care.
Bissell Child Care is just one of Bissell Centre’s social enterprises that seeks to help fund Bissell’s crucial programs: also including Bissell Thrift Shop and Bissell Harvest Catering. All funds raised are directly invested back into programs helping people uncover their unique paths out of poverty and homelessness — increasing Bissell Centre’s capacity to meet people where they are at and help strengthen the community.
Close to 400 walkers on more than 60 teams walked through downtown Edmonton on February 28, 2026, for Bissell Centre’s ninth annual Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser. More than $161,000 was raised to go towards Bissell Centre’s programs in housing, financial empowerment, eviction prevention, family supports, and Indigenous cultural supports.
Temperatures hit as low as –24 degrees that night with wind chill, but it didn’t deter any walkers from showing up and walking alongside people in need to help strengthen the community. The walk kicked off at YMCA Boyle Street Plaza at 4:00 p.m., starting with an opening reception where walkers picked up their matching colourful toques before taking to their routes.
Walkers could choose either a two-kilometre route that took them up to 100 Street, or a five-kilometre route which saw walkers traverse all the way to 109 Street. Once walkers completed their routes, they headed back to Boyle Street Plaza for a complementary pasta buffet from Bissell Harvest Catering.
Money raised at Coldest Night of the Year makes real impacts on people in the community. In 2024, Bissell Centre helped house more than 500 people, prevented more than 600 evictions, returned more than $7.6 million through more than 4,000 personal tax filings, and connected hundreds more people to resources to help them live with a better quality of life.
Next year’s Coldest Night of the Year walk will take place on February 27, 2027.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Capital Power
Boardwalk
Coca-Cola Canada Bottling
Home Depot Canada
BigSteelBox
Alberta Residential Landlord Association
Recruitment Partners Inc.
Associated Engineering
JACEK Chocolate Couture
BioWare
Fairmont Hotel McDonald
GSJJ
Tim Hortons
North Country Fair
And thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this incredible event a success!
Bissell Centre is expanding its crucial Financial Empowerment program to better serve diverse communities facing poverty and housing instability.
With funding from Prosper Canada’s Resilient Futures program, Bissell Centre is partnering with Métis Money Moves and the Canada FASD Research Network (CanFASD) to make its Financial Empowerment programming more accessible and relevant to people rooted in Indigenous Nations and people with FASD — two demographics disproportionately experiencing poverty and homelessness.
This collaboration begins in March with Bissell Centre team members presenting Métis Money Moves’ culturally informed financial education program at the Stanley Milner Edmonton Public Library.
Finance from an Indigenous Perspective
“Indigenous teachings about things that relate to money go deeper into why a person wants to be better with finances,” says Sophia Mejia, Manager of Specialized Services with Bissell Centre. “It helps provide more personal autonomy and asks reflective questions prompting people to provide personal motivations to help them gain a better understanding around finances.”
While the Bissell Centre team leads these sessions, Métis Money Moves and CanFASD are reviewing Bissell Centre’s existing Financial Empowerment program and to create workbooks tailored to the needs of Indigenous people and people with FASD. This is expected to continue until 2027, with the new Financial Empowerment program rolling out in 2028.
“Métis Money Moves is making change for the next seven generations, empowering individuals and families to gain a deeper understanding of their money and reducing recidivism back into houselessness,” says JoLynn Parenteau, Métis Money Moves’ Founder and Facilitator. “In 2026, Métis Money Moves will reach more households than ever before, made possible by the leadership and vision of Bissell Centre’s Financial Empowerment and Prosper Canada’s Resilient Futures programs.”
Funding from Prosper Canada’s Resilient Futures Program
Resilient Futures is a $60 million, multi-year initiative that will support community organizations across Canada to expand free financial empowerment services — such as tax filing help, assistance accessing government benefits, and financial coaching and counselling — for people with low and modest incomes. The initiative aims to reach one million people and connect them with an estimated $2 billion in income benefits and tax credits.
To register for Métis Money Moves’ program, or for more information about this partnership, visit the Edmonton Public Library website.
Bissell Centre is holding its annual Coldest Night of the Year walkathon on Saturday, February 28.
Beginning at YMCA Boyle Street Plaza (9538 103A Ave. Edmonton), the opening reception starts at 4:00 p.m. and walkers will set off at 5:00 p.m.
This event features hundreds of Edmontonians walking through the city’s downtown, in matching colourful toques, to help raise funds for Bissell Centre’s critical programs and services.
Last year’s walk
Last year’s walk saw close to 400 walkers on 79 teams helping to raise $150,000 for programs that help people find sustainable housing, increase their financial knowledge, connect to Indigenous culture, and provide essentials for families.
“There’s something powerful about seeing hundreds of people bundle up and walk together on a cold winter evening,” says Michelle Reid, Manager of Community Engagement. “It’s a visible reminder that our community cares deeply about making sure everyone has access to safe housing and supports.”
What to expect at the event
Teams of walkers have been raising funds since November and will continue until the day of the walk. Kicking off from Boyle Street Plaza, walkers can choose either the two kilometre route through City Centre or five kilometre route up to 109 Street before heading back to Boyle Street Plaza for a reception with warm food and soft drinks.
Reid says seeing people from the larger Edmonton community show up to walk alongside one another reminds her how events like these open doors for people and helps strengthen the community.
About Coldest Night of the Year
Coldest Night of the Year started back in 2011, with three Ontario ministries, to raise awareness around what their communities are experiencing. It wasn’t long before hundreds of organizations across Canada and the United States adopted the event, including Bissell Centre whose own Coldest Night of the Year walkathon remains an essential event to ensure it can continue offering its range of programs including in housing, financial empowerment, family supports, and Indigenous cultural supports.
Edmonton has a variety of free and low-cost services geared towards families. These include clothing, food, shelter, and respite child care. Check out the list below! Not sure where to start? Our Family Supports team can help.
Our Family Supports team works with families to understand their individual needs and helps them navigate services available — even acting as advocates for some families we walk alongside to help strengthen family units and the community.
If you want to meet with our Family Supports team, you can find them at the Bissell Centre Service Hub at 10527, 96 Street. You can contact our Family Supports team directly:
If you’re reaching out to any of the services on this list, please visit their websites for their criteria. For a full list of additional services, call 211.
Free or low-cost clothing
Mill Woods United Church
Saint Vincent de Paul
Building Hope
Amity House
Suit Yourself
Terra Centre
Care Closet
Free Food or Meals
Building Hope
C5 Hub Food Pantry
Candora Society
Hope Mission
Freedom Centre Church
Edmonton Food Bank
Food Not Bombs
Wecan Food Baskets
Native Healing Centre
Native Friendship Centre
Pantry N More’
Bethel Church
Shelters
Hope Mission
The Mustard Seed
Boyle Street Community Services
WIN House
Wings of Providence
Bear Lodge
E4C
Lurana Shelter
A Safe Place
Respite Child Care
Bissell Child Care
Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre
Kids Kottage
Kids Without Limits
A Safe Place
It’s never easy when relationships end. For Claudia, separating from her husband also meant separating from the business they grew together.
“Without that business, I virtually had no income,” Claudia explains. “I was looking for work, but I couldn’t find anything for a long time.”
At the time, she was on income support while caring for two teenagers at home and it wasn’t long before the bills started piling up. But someone suggested that Bissell Centre might be able to help.
Discovering a new way to receive support
“Aside from seeing the name in print, I had never looked too deeply into Bissell Centre before reaching out for help,” says Claudia. “I wouldn’t have thought to reach out to Bissell Centre on my own.”
Shortly after her first meeting with the Community Bridge team, her outstanding bills were paid. The team then explored her financial situation to set up a personalized monthly repayment plan that allowed her to continue living comfortably and supporting her children as they entered adulthood.
Uncovering a streamlined path out of debt
Earlier this year, Claudia proudly paid back her loan from Community Bridge.
“Looking back, it was almost too easy,” she says with a laugh. “The whole process was so easy and respectful. It feels great to have paid it off and to be able to pay if off. The monthly payments were low and realistic to pay off.”
Today, Claudia’s two adult children are in university, and she works a steady job. She keeps up with her monthly expenses and supports her children.
“We’re living comfortably and have a lot of high hopes for the future,” Claudia says.
Thanks to support from ENMAX, the Community Bridge team has been able to connect with folks at risk and prevent them from being evicted and facing homelessness. Last year, Community Bridge helped 678 individuals just like Claudia, with almost 100% of program participants repaying their loans.
Highway 16 running through parts of north-central Alberta and into mainland British Columbia has a second, more ominous name that’s recognizable to most — the Highway of Tears. This stretch of highway was given this name because of the number of Indigenous Women, Girls, 2-Spirit People, and countless others rooted in Indigenous Nations who were either murdered and found along this highway or went missing while along this highway.
There have been initiatives like the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) that have made great strides to address this issue and educate the public. But, in 2011 a young woman and her father launched their own awareness campaign from people who have their own roots with Indigenous Nations.
Addressing MMIWG from a lived-Indigenous experience
Raven Lacerte and her father Paul started the Moose Hide Campaign and included one distinct symbol as a commitment to ending gender-based and Indigenous targeted violence — wearing a pinned square of moose hide.
To this day, the Moose Hide Campaign organization distributes these pins along with information cards as a gift of medicine. Adding to the Indigenous lens, the website suggests a $1 donation when ordering gifts of medicine as a gift of reciprocity and helping to ensure the Moose Hide Campaign remains sustainable.
Moose Hide Campaign’s main awareness event is its walk in Victoria, British Columbia, on May 15 — but this is far from the only Moose Hide Campaign event. Dozens of individual walks are happening across the country, including one in Edmonton at City Hall.
In addition to the walks, it’s also encouraged to fast as part of this awareness campaign. In many Indigenous Nations and communities, fasting is seen as a symbol of your commitment and a way to deepen your intention towards this commitment. It’s encouraged, but not required, to fast from sunrise to sunset to further solidify your resolve.
Moose Hide Campaign events and how you can get involved
This is a very-high level overview of this immensely impactful movement. The wisdom and knowledge shared by the Lacerte family and the rest of the Moose Hide Campaign team illuminates many of the issues faced by women, girls, 2-Spirit Peoples, and other Indigenous Peoples while firmly rooted in Indigenous culture and community — an important perspective for us all to listen to and gain a better understanding from.
Discover more about the Moose Hide Campaign and how you can showcase your commitment to ending gender-based and Indigenous Peoples targeted violence at Edmonton City Hall.
The 2020s has been an important decade for Canada’s relationship with the Indigenous Nations. We’re seeing large institutions like Canada’s federal government acknowledge and recognize the atrocities committed against Indigenous Peoples.
One incredibly important stride forward was the publishing of the Final Report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). This more than 700-page report highlights interviews with more than 2,300 people affected by violence against Indigenous People.
These stories illustrate the challenges faced by women and girls, and the continued violence against members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. By reading this document, we can gain better knowledge on the marginalization experienced by Indigenous Peoples — and ultimately, have the wisdom and perspective to know what we can each do individually to help create a more equitable world.
The Four Key Areas of Rights for Indigenous Peoples
In addition to the 231 recommendations the report makes to help end violence and marginalization against Indigenous Peoples, it highlights four key areas of rights for Indigenous Peoples and provides explanations as to how each help work towards this goal of ending violence:
- Right to Culture – this right specifically highlights previous generations trying to assimilate Indigenous Cultures and Nations and how these efforts created the foundation for the marginalization Indigenous Peoples continue to experience today.
- Right to Health – this highlights how all people within Canada have the right to access health care. For countless people rooted in Indigenous Nations, this is an area where they have experienced discrimination — this barrier to health care further adds to the violence experienced by Indigenous Peoples.
- Right to Security – countless stories shared through this national inquiry demonstrated the near constant threat Indigenous Peoples face while living day-to-day. And it’s not only physical security: emotional, mental, social, and cultural security are all key to ending this disproportionate violence.
- Right to Justice – experiences through Canada’s justice system can be incredibly inconsistent for Indigenous Peoples. These disconnections through Canada’s justice system can further perpetuate the violent experiences of Indigenous Peoples.
Why Education is Foundational to Ending Violence
While the 231 recommendations and the four key areas of rights largely focus on larger-scale systemic changes, that doesn’t mean everyday people are powerless to help steer this change along.
In fact, just being more aware of the kind of violence that Indigenous Peoples are facing is the perfect foundation needed to see the kind of change that will help end this violence.
Any meaningful action starts with awareness and education. With the knowledge and wisdom of the issues, their roots causes, and what needs to be done to address this inequity, the better you can direct your own actions to be more equitable to people rooted in Indigenous Nations.
And the more people there are who fully understand the issues and how to direct their own actions, the more forward momentum we can see to finally seeing an end to this disproportionate violence.
The fire crackles in front of 14 Elders and Knowledge Keepers sitting in a circle sharing, reflecting, and trying to imagine a more positive future for their communities. They were all invited to Moonlight Bay Centre for a retreat to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — a day that can be especially difficult for these Leaders in their communities.
Many of them have either witnessed firsthand the atrocities of residential schools or have close family members who have shared their own stories (if they came home at all). And while the Elders and Knowledge Keepers reflected on the past and the challenges of the present, a new feeling emerged, seemingly from the embers and ashes dancing off the campfire.
They felt hope for the future.
Thoughtful Reflections Sitting by the Water
While this retreat included much of what someone might expect to find at an all-inclusive resort, the true aim for this event was to pay homage to the hard work of Elders and Knowledge Keepers acting as near-constant beacons of hope, helping their communities to safer waters. And while grief and reflection were ever-present, so was friendship, comradery, love, and optimism that they will continue navigating troubled waters.
“Many of the Elders and Knowledge Keepers who attended told me they had no idea we had a property so close to the water like this,” says Janet Paskemin, Manager of Indigenous Cultural Supports. Moonlight Bay Centre sits on Wabamun Lake with wonderful views of the water and surrounding woods.
“Just being by the water can do a lot for Elders and Knowledge Keepers,” says Janet. “It can help them clear their minds, reflect more thoughtfully, and think much clearer. For a lot of this retreat, the Elders and Knowledge Keepers sat by the lake, sometimes talking but more often just in silence with each other.”
Comradery, Friendships, and the Gifts of Food
While some of the Elders and Knowledge Keepers who attended were longtime friends, just as many had never met — despite this, the comradery was more than evident. These bonds formed sitting by the lake, solidified by the fire, but it was in the kitchen where one of the strongest gestures took shape.
Food Sovereignty is an act where visitors to Indigenous Nations would receive food as a token of gratitude and friendship. True to honouring the customs and traditions from Indigenous Nations, one Elder, who was previously a Chef, insisted on making home-made pancakes for everyone at the retreat.
“In truth, he wanted to give something to his friends, the same way we were giving so much to everyone during that retreat,” says Janet. “It’s hard to understate how important gestures of honour, friendship, and love are for the Elders and Knowledge Keepers.”
Hope for the Next Generations
Janet recalls one thing she heard time and time again throughout the retreat: that the Elders and Knowledge Keepers see the work that’s being done for Indigenous Peoples by so many young people. She expressed how the Elders and Knowledge Keepers are so incredibly hopeful for the next generations to continue improving the lives of others.
We were honoured to host the 14 Elders and Knowledge Keepers at Moonlight Bay Centre to acknowledge National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We’re proud knowing that these important leaders in their communities had an opportunity to not only rest and reflect but to connect, share, express, and revitalize.
Imagine trying to process the world around you when every sound, sight, and feeling seems turned up to the highest settings possible. This is a reality for some people who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Like a migraine that can interrupt your executive function (the skills used to manage everyday tasks like making plans, problem solving, and adapting to new situations), this can be a major barrier for some folks to be stable and secure in their housing.
This is why we operate Hope Terrace, a supportive housing building specifically designed for people with FASD. Today, 34 people call Hope Terrace home and are gaining the knowledge and skills to live independently through the support that specifically addresses their unique needs.
The wraparound supports built within the building and its programs helps its tenants overcome their barriers to housing, learn to better manage their day-to-day needs to upkeep their housing, and ultimately gain independence to live with dignity and a good quality of life.
Good Quality of Life Starts with Good Food
When executive function is interrupted, it can be hard to tell what makes for good food that helps with physical and mental health. Hope Terrace’s community kitchen model helps to overcome this barrier by not only ensuring nutritious and delicious food is available to tenants, but that tenants are also empowered to make those choices and learn how to make well balanced meals.
Hope Terrace’s cooking program, called Cook’n’Eat, is supported by the on-staff occupational therapist and teaches interested tenants the basics of cooking, with an emphasis on timing out the different steps to preparing a meal. This helps promote further independence in tenants by teaching a transferable skill that they can apply to many facets of their daily lives.
This is just one of more than a dozen different food support programs at Hope Terrace that teaches tenants how to prepare meal kits, how to serve meals for the whole community, and even how to budget for essentials like groceries. In fact, we’re proud that 85% of the people who call Hope Terrace home are independently grocery shopping on a regular basis and finding better balance with their nutrition and their lives.
Tenant Empowerment through Collective Action
Many of the tenants at Hope Terrace expressed a need for a more prevalent voice in their day-to-day lives and learning how the building they call home operates. Seeing this as an opportunity to further develop transferable skills and independence, a six-person volunteer Tenant Council was formed to act as an intermediary between tenants and what would be considered their landlord at Hope Terrace.
Directly reflecting the needs and wants of the larger Hope Terrace community, this structured group receives feedback from other tenants and creates action plans to address these requests and possibly implement changes to reflect these needs. Recently, this group worked closely with the building and landlord to address some challenges with the heating and successfully uncovered solutions that improved the lives of their neighbours.
This group also acts as a distribution point when Hope Terrace staff has updates or changes they need to communicate to other folks in the building, ensuring there is transparent and healthy flow of information between staff and tenants.
Ensuring Over-Stimulation Can be Easily Managed
While a lot of amazing work can be done to help a person with FASD learn necessary life skills and gain better independence, a few bad moments of over-stimulation can bring back or create new challenges for folks. To ensure this barrier is overcome, we created a room specifically to help quell over-stimulation and balance out tenants’ sensory intake.
Called the Snoozelen, this room has adjustable lighting, sound, visuals, and soft-textured seating to bring down anxiety, stress, and other adverse outcomes that accompany over-stimulation. This has been an incredibly successful tool at Hope Terrace that’s helped tenants manage their emotional well-being long before it becomes a wider issue for other tenants and staff.
There’s Even More to Discover about Hope Terrace
These are just a few of the ways Hope Terrace supports people with FASD in securing and maintaining stable housing. In the past year alone, through the skills and knowledge gained from Hope Terrace’s programs, eight people have moved into fully independent living situations — one is even a proud homeowner.
We’ll be sharing a full presentation on November 21, 2024, in recognition of Housing Month. Join us for this noon-hour webinar session where we’ll go into more details about Hope Terrace — and you’ll have an opportunity to directly ask the people running Hope Terrace more about what makes this building so successful at helping people with FASD overcome their unique barrier to stable and secure housing.
