News and Archives

Elizabeth Fry’s annual Christmas online auction will provide ongoing support of our Volunteer and Court Programs in 2022. The EFry Volunteer program has supported our core programs for the past 55 years. Volunteers learn valuable skills for their own professional development as well as give back to the community through their support of marginalized peoples engaged in the legal and justice system. Volunteers provide assistance on the court floors and court house to support navigation, assist with court matters through securing and referring to legal and community resources, assisting with understanding the court processes as well as assist with filling Read More →

Throughout the 2019 year, we reviewed how we were working as an agency and adapted our structures to further empower our clients towards their own levels of independency. In particular, our focus diverted our attention to strengthening resiliency and recognizing the ability of individuals to be more successful when given the right resources. We expanded our court programs to include Strathmore and in early 2020 we included Lethbridge and Siksika into our court programs. We expanded our legal advocacy programs into Siksika and Eden Valley to further support Indigenous individuals with supports to address their legal matters. In collaboration with Read More →

By: Jaskirat Ghuttora One program of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary that you may or may not have heard of is the Youth Mentorship Program and it is one that I would like to shed some more light on. The Youth Mentorship program aims to pair marginalized and underprivileged youth with volunteers from EFry in order for them to have a positive role model to look up to and learn from in their lives. This program gives a helping hand to those youth who find themselves in trouble because no one is there to listen to them, and they Read More →

Transitioning from 2019 into a new decade moves us closer to our 55th anniversary in 2020. We would like to say thanks to all those individuals, agencies, supporters and collaborators for all your contributions over 2019. In particular, our organization would not be able to deliver the number of services and programs without the incredible staff and volunteers who consistently provide support to those who require our services and programs. In 2019, we expanded our services into Eden Valley and Strathmore, and participated in the collaboration with the community and Alberta Justice and Solicitor General on the development of the Calgary Read More →

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary’s SAGE Emotional Wellness and Employment Readiness program assists women on their journey to personal success. The program is built on Indigenous cultural values that provide support and healing; interactive and experiential learning provide participants with reconnection to their culture. Each week, participants spend 23 hours with Kachina Raymond-McGillis, the SAGE Coordinator, learning both functional life skills and strategies to promote emotional wellness—including writing, art, and photography. Participants also engage in employment skills that better prepare them for their next steps after SAGE. Over the 12-week program, participants gain new confidence and tools to assist Read More →

By: Alannah Page The last federal election was decided just over a month ago and while many Canadians might have already put the thought of politics out of their mind, there are many people who didn’t make it to the polls despite being eligible voters. By law, in order to be considered an eligible voter, you must meet the two following criteria, be 18 years of age or older and be a Canadian citizen. However, meeting these criteria can be a lot more difficult than they first appear and some of the four most significant barriers to voting impact the Read More →