When I look back over the long history that Bissell Centre has in supporting vulnerable citizens in the City of Edmonton, I am honoured and grateful for the opportunity to stand together with many, many other leaders, staff members, donors, and volunteers who have contributed to making a difference in their community and changing lives for over a century.
Over the past three years, I have had the great privilege of working closely with our former CEO Mark Holmgren. Bissell Centre experienced tremendous growth during Mark’s time with us and I am thankful for the opportunity that I had to learn from Mark and be part of the innovative initiatives that he led us through during his time with us.
As one person commented to me, those are big shoes to fill – figuratively and literally!
Humour aside, this is a true statement but I am able to move forward with confidence not only because of my own leadership experience and successes, but fundamentally and more importantly, because we have an incredibly talented team of staff and volunteers who are passionate about ending poverty in our community. It is they who truly make Bissell Centre the amazing organization that it is.
Who I Am
I came to Bissell Centre having worked for most of my career in non-profit agencies that were committed to supporting families and individuals realize their hopes and aspirations. Over those many years in leadership roles, I began to form and understand which values were important to me personally and professionally. As I learned more about Bissell Centre, it did not take me long to realize that my core values were closely aligned with the organization’s.
Respect, diversity, inclusion, integrity, compassion – these are the things that define what an organization is, rather than what it does. At Bissell Centre, it became clear to me that these values are not simply words on a webpage; they are characteristics that we seek to live out on a daily basis regardless of our role.
Personally, I am as concerned about who I am, and not just with what I do. To put it differently, who we are on the journey is as important as the end we are moving towards. As a father of three, I am reminded of the importance of this daily, as my children pick up my values (and at times my bad habits!), from seeing how I approach life on a day to day basis. Staying true to our values can be hard work, but in the end, the effort is worth it.
The Harsh Reality
As I think of my own children, I cannot help but reflect on the many children who are faced daily with the harsh realities of poverty here in Edmonton. I still find myself shocked at the significant numbers of families and children who find themselves lacking their fundamental needs. Consider this quote from End Poverty Edmonton:
“The most recent data from 2012 finds that one in eight Edmontonians experience poverty as a daily reality. The younger you are, the more likely you are to live in poverty. Just under one in five Edmonton children under 18 years of age live in a poor family. Just over one in three children living in a lone-parent family lives in poverty. “
This was data from 2012, before the recent slide of oil prices and the resulting economic challenges for many in our community. I am afraid to think of what those numbers would be today!
This sobering reality presents a significant challenge to all of us. But it also provides an opportunity. It is in this moment, perhaps more than any other, that we need to join together and come alongside our neighbours, our friends, and family members to join in the long history of those who have taken action to make a difference and bring hope of a brighter future.
This is why I am working with our team here at Bissell Centre to expand the services that we provide to families and children. It is why we are seeking to expand our Community Bridge Program, which helps prevent evictions for families and individuals.
Our Bold Vision
A number of years ago, Bissell Centre adopted a bold new vision, the elimination of poverty in our community. This was at a time when conversations were focused on the reduction or management of poverty. The idea of ending poverty seemed ludicrous to some – the problem was too big, too complex. Some have said it cannot be done. But this also what many told the Wright Brothers about building an airplane.
To believe that poverty is a foregone conclusion is to give up on what might be and preclude us from taking concrete actions that might actually bring the seemingly impossible closer to reality. How many iterations of the filament did Edison have to attempt before he was successful at creating an effective working lightbulb? Where would we be today if he hadn’t been driven by a deep belief that creating an electrical light was in fact possible? Doing something great is never easy. By definition, a great accomplishment is only great because it was so difficult.
“I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed three thousand different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory. “
In order for us to make the impossible possible, we need to begin with the belief that we can make a difference, we can succeed, and then we need to take concrete steps towards that end. Whether they are big or small, all of those steps joined together begin to form a movement, a wave of support and engagement that can change the tide and make the impossible possible.
Walk with us.
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Gary St. Amand
Interim CEO – Bissell Centre