CommunityWise’s mission is to support diverse organizations, enhancing the collective impact on society by providing an inclu-sive community space. We believe equity and well-being will be achieved with diverse and collaborative work. The strength of this organization lies in our members, you and the communities you serve. Without your energy and vitality, driving your own missions to make the world a better place, this organization would not exist. The staff and board

have had an exciting and fulfilling year in 2013-2014, completing the historic restoration of the front porch, de-veloping our Theory of Change, initiating the collaborative framework project, hosting practicum and internship stu-dents, and continuing to serve our amazing members to the best of our ability. Reflecting on the past, with our collective wisdom, we look forward to what’s to come! Some highlights of the year:

Front Porch Restoration Theory of Change Shared Spaces: Bike HUB and Culture Geeks Student Practicums and Internships Community Events – Open House, Community Connection Programming – Board governance conference + workshop, con-sensus, lunch time learning Building Opportunities: Working Different Conference Social Spaces Summit Accessibility Audit Safer Spaces policy Member Survey 2014

“CommunityWise is the space in Calgary for community organizing. CommunityWise gives me a lot of hope and it allows small organiza-tions like the one I’m involved with to have downtown space and be more effective.” –Anonymous (2014 participant survey)

In 1979 the Old Y Action groups formed as a tenants association to rescue the building

from demolition. The collective action taken by the tenant groups over 35 years ago demonstrates the spirit and val-ues still present today: Community, Diversity, Sustainability, Accessibility, Social Justice and Heritage. In 2014 we are celebrating the legacy of the Old Y Action Groups and the significant contributions of all the dozens of non-profit, com-munity organizations that have found a home here. As stewards of this heritage building, we honour our relation-ship with our landlord, the City of Calgary. As facilitators of community development, we honour the relationships fos-tered by the diverse members of CommunityWise Resource

CommunityWise Resource Centre

Annual Report May 2013-2014

35 Anniversary! 1979—2014

Membership Report

CommunityWise membership is composed of 35 tenant members, 49 external members including grass-roots members and 8 individual members, for a total of 84 member organizations and a grand total of 92 members. This year CommunityWise welcomed 5 new tenant members, 13 new external members and 8 new individual members. NewTenant Members: Fairy Tales Presentation Society (formerly Ex-ternal Member) Calgary Allied Arts Foundation VCAC (formerly External Member) Calgary Multi Cultural Society

New External Members: Alberta Magazine Publishers Society Bike Calgary The Chic Geek Coronation Place DragonFly Co-housing Eye on the Ball Training The Good Life Community Bike Shop Kleos Microfinance Seeds Connection Social Ventures Partners Capital This Is My City What’s Next? Peruvian Canadian Association Individual Members: Jennie Alves Kevin Allen Amy Badry Jan Bacon Natalie Lauchlan Steve Loo Jessica McCarrel Grant Neufeld Sharon Stevens River Wearmouth Members moved out or folded Art City Trans Equality Society of Alberta Youthinkit Publications Dance Dance Party Party Amira Jacobs

Member Recognition All of our members deserve recognition for doing fantastic work. This year we are honouring seven members for their contribution to CommunityWise. Spirit of CommunityWise – Alberta Community and Coopera-tives Association Spirit of the Old Y – Quakers Religious Society of Friends Active New Tenant Member – Aboriginal Friendship Centre Active New External Member – Oromo Network Collaborator – Next Up Collaborator - Calgary Centre for Global Community Maximum Efficiency - Two Wheel View

“CommunityWise has helped

me to transition back to Cal-

gary and made me feel a

sense of community in this

city when previously I felt

isolated.” – Anonymous

(2014 Participant Survey)

Community Connections Event March 22, 2014

Thank you to our wonderful social work

practicum students!

Financial Report

“If CommunityWise had more money, it would be able to fix this city.”

– Anonymous (2014 Participant Survey)

Expense

Administration 106,370.33

Bad Debts 379.00

Building Mainte-

nance 45,031.25

Community Building 817.85

Office Expenses 9,069.39

Operating to Major

Building 12,000.00

Publicity 629.22

Supplies for Office

Services 5,776.60

Transfer to Lease-

hold Savings 6,000.00

Total Expense 186,073.64

Grants received 2013-2014: Muttart Bursary Program = $ 134.00 Committee of 10 000.00 =$ 1400.00 First Calgary Knowledge builders = $ 2400.00 The Calgary Foundation = $ 60 000.00 Canada Summer Jobs = one student position CFEP = $ 24 000.00 AHRF = $ 80 000.00 Casino= $ 67 000.00

Total = $ 234 934.00

Charitable donations

Donations

Membership Charges

Non Government Grants

Rental Income

Reserve fund used

Administration

BuildingMaintenance

Community Building

Office Expenses

Supplies for OfficeServices

Income

Expense

Income

Charitable donations 524.03

Community events 250.00

Donations 5,000.00

Entry Sytem Charge 45.00

Interest on Invest-

ments 225.27

Mailbox rental 1,080.00

Membership

Charges 2,400.00

Non Government

Grants 7,078.74

Office Services 8,137.85

Rental Income 160,475.95

Reserve fund used 13,279.71

Uncategorized In-

come 114.15

Total Income 198,610.70

Calgary Society of Independent Film

Boys and Girls Community Services

Outlink

Arusha

Sustainable Alberta

Aboriginal Friendship Centre

Eritrean Canadian Community Association

Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids

Calgary Centre for Global Community

Calgary Ethiopan Community Association

Calgary Woman's Health Collective

Beltline

Support Works

Calgary Co-operative Memorial Society

Calgary Community Network Assoc.

Romanian Canadian Cultural Assoc.

Children's International Summer Villages

Gear Station

Alberta Disabled Foundation

SMART

Venezuelan Canadian Assoc.

Sierra Club, Chinook Group

Quakers

ACTon Coalition On Human Trafficing

Parkland Institute

Two Wheel View

Chinook Country Historical Society

Alternative Poverty Eradication Bureau

Oromian Community Association of Alberta

Calgary Multicultural Centre

M ST Performance Art Festival Society

Next UP

Miscellaneous Youth Network Society

Amnesty

Dragonfly

Cinematheque Society

Viva Mexico Dance Society

Office Rental Income

134,378.65

Vacancy Rate

0%

Common Room Rental Income

27,378.30

Revenue generation by member

CommunityWise operations are supported by members through revenue from

office and common room rentals.

Rent paid to CommunityWise goes back into supporting members by providing

facilities maintenance, programming and other resources.

Facilities Report Interior Improvement Painting: Main Common Room, 212, 212A, 205, 206A, 319

Carpets: 212, 212A, 206A, 205, 305, 210, 211, 208, 319

New Flooring: Dance Studio Washroom, Second Main Washroom, D1, BGCC Washroom, Equipment- Projector, Additional Vacuums

Systems – Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting Sys-tems upgrade

Exterior projects

Historic porch restoration completed

Second Floor Balcony mats

Art Chappie Case for Art—display case now ac-cepting art submissions from members and community

Long Term Facilities Plan 25 year Assets Management Plan with support from City of Cal-gary Heritage Planners and Alberta Historic Resources Foundation

Enjoy the back

yard rainbow

picnic table!

Found a secret

hidden stair case

during the fire

alarm wiring

project ...

Main Common Room painting done by Miguel Rivas of

Tirzah Contractors

Programming Community Events: - CommunityWise Swap Shop (August 2013) - INTERFACE open house and front porch re-opening (October 2013) - CommunityWise Winter Party and Talent Show (December 2013) - Building Lunches for CommunityWise members co-hosted by CommunityWise and the Elder Service Corps (multiple dates) Regular Programming: - Burnout Prevention League (monthly) - Lunchtime Learning (monthly) -Co-ops 101 (Alberta Community & Cooperative Association) -Narrative Therapy (Women's Health Collective) -Introduction to Unleashing Social Capital (by Alberta Community & Coop-erative Association) -Bullfrog Power -Canada’s New Anti-Spam Legislation (by the Calgary Centre for Global Community) - CommunityWise House Band - Lunch Club Collaborations: - Social work practicum placement host site: eight students in total have com-pleted their practicums in the building since Fall 2013 (University of Calgary; Mount Royal University) - Elder Service Corps host site since Fall 2013 (Calgary Family Services) - Community Development Learning Initiative (CDLI) host site for sessions in 2013 (City of Calgary; United Way) - Board Leadership Calgary 2014 Planning Group (Alberta Culture Commu-nity Development Unit and organizing partners) - Public art host site in 2014 (City of Calgary Public Art Department) - Community Connections YYC, March 2014 (Next Up Calgary) - Viva Equinox!, March 2014 (Equinox Vigil in Union Cemetery) - Youth Week, April 2014 (Alberta Health Services; Boys and Girls Club) - Calgary After Vandana Shiva…What’s Next?, April 2014 (Calgary Centre for Global Community; Public Interest Alberta) - Board Development “Open Workshop,” April 2014 (Alberta Culture Community Development, Board Development Program) - Decolonization & Anti-Oppression Workshop, May 2014 (Calgary Centre for Global Community & presenters) Presentations: -Building Opportunities Conference – Nonprofit Centres Network (June 2013, Denver) -World Social Enterprise Conference Tour with participation by six CommunityWise member organi-zations (October 2013, Calgary) -Social Spaces Summit (November 2013, Vancouver) -Community Connections YYC (March 2014, Calgary) -Board Leadership Calgary 2014 (April 2014, Calgary) -Building Together: Sharing Community Spaces – Nonprofit Centres Network (April 2014, Ottawa) -Visits to university classes – University of Calgary and Mount Royal University (ongoing)

2014 CommunityWise Participant Survey Historically CommunityWise has not collected data on who uses the building and why. The lack of data collection was due to the organization’s previously exclusive focus on maintaining the building, and due to a lack of staff capacity for anything more than bare bones administration. As we move forward with increasing community support for a strong vision of community development and social change, we are acquiring the capacity to evaluate our work. The second annual members’ survey was completed with instrumental support from the Community Service Learning program through Propell:us and the University of Calgary Development Studies Department. Four students worked with staff from January to April 2014, developing, delivering and analyzing the survey, spending over 100 hours of volunteer time on this significant project. The sur-

vey had 188 respondents out of approximately 300 surveys delivered over the course of one month. The results of the survey show a diverse demographic mix of individuals using the building; however, we identified a possi-ble bias of the survey because of challenges with literacy and ESL, which prevented some individuals and groups from completing the form. The results show that 53% of respon-dents live within four miles of CommunityWise and 41% within 15 miles, with 6% living outside the 15 mile range, in-cluding respondents from Lethbridge, Chestermere, Coch-rane and Airdrie. There was a relatively even split across the spectrum of an-

nual household income ranging from $100,000.00+ to below $25,000.00 and AISH or Alberta Works. Respondents provided 26 ethnicities and 27 languages spoken. As the demographic catego-ries were mostly left open with a blank line for respondents to fill, over 22 different occupations were recorded with most respondents answering Administrator, Artist, Social Worker, or Teacher. Other examples included Bartender/Server, Childcare, Retired, IT, Driver and Unemployed. There were 19 different responses in the category of religion. Education ranges from less than highschool to PhD, with most respondents falling in the category of four year degree or some post-secondary. The rea-sons why individuals visit the building in-clude, 71% for meetings, 44% for social events, approximately 30% to volunteer and 15% for work, although some respondents come for more than one of these reasons. Some of the main reasons listed were to participate in art or the LGBTQ community, to meet new people, to dance, go to coun-seling and support groups, and to learn. 24% of the respondents visit the building daily or weekly, 44% visit monthly and 12% of the respondents filled out the survey on their first visit to CommunityWise. This snapshot of demographics, experi-ences, and activities at CommunityWise in 2014 is by no means representative of all of the diverse membership and community that uses the space, nor the seasonal changes that affect use of the building. However, with this kind of documentation and data collection, we are able to communicate the basic story of what happens at the centre, and we are able to learn more about how to serve the community better.

This is my first time

12%

Regularly24%

Often44%

Rarely18%

Other2%

How often do you visit?

Asian Anglo Sazan Mutt Bangladeshi Black/African Canadian

British Canadian Canadian/Filipino Caucasian

Doesn't matter East Indian European Fijan

First Nations French Hispanic Human

India Italian Irish/Scottish Jewish

Mexican Nigerian Oromo Portuguese

Slavic Sri Lankan Venezuelan Vietnamese

WASP

Collaborative Framework and Developmental Evaluation Report As an augmentation of its pre-existing role as an “umbrella” organization for members, Community-Wise has recently embarked on the process of developing a “Collaborative Framework” to formalize and expand opportunities for member capacity building through collaboration. The underlying intent of the framework is to increase the collective resiliency and sustainability of member organizations, while creating an alternative model of not-for-profit structure, operation, and resourcing. It is hoped that this Framework will contribute to the unleashing of the considerable potential that exists within member organizations. Examples of what this looks like include: lunchtime learning sessions where a member organization shares its knowledge and skills with other members and with the broader community, or where an external group is brought in to offer a training session for multiple member groups simultaneously (on topics such as board development; creative fundraising; anti-oppression and diversity); the hosting of community forums; events to encourage networking; collaborative fund development between two or more organizations; and practicum students and other learning posi-tions which are coordinated by CommunityWise but shared between organizations. To strengthen the effectiveness of the Collaborative Framework and to ensure that it aligns with the needs and wishes of members, we are applying a Developmental Evaluation approach to its crea-tion. As such, evaluation is being built into the Framework in its early stages so that ongoing feed-back and input can inform the direction the Framework ultimately takes, enhancing its validity and viability, as well as optimizing its effectiveness and sustainability in the longer term. Community-Wise members will be able to participate more fully in this process throughout 2014 and beyond! Stay tuned for more details….

Planting tomatoes

Members lunchtime

fitness program at

the Beltline next

door

CommunityWise

House Band at the

Winter Party

Annual Youth Week

collaboration with

Boys & Girls Club