A message from Boyle Street Community Services:
When okimaw peyesew kamik (King Thunderbird Centre) starts service delivery on Nov. 12, it will mark a historic milestone for Boyle Street Community Services and for the thousands of Edmontonians who rely on its programs every year.
The building itself is extraordinary: a space created in consultation with Elders and Knowledge Keepers, intentionally designed for accessibility, cultural safety, and dignity. It's zero-emission and powered by solar and geothermal. But it represents something deeper — the collective belief that a better future is possible when communities come together and create strong relationships based on trust and understanding.
Boyle Street's work begins with relationships. Staff meet people where they are, providing wraparound supports that help them access housing, healthcare, cultural support, and connection. Each step forward, no matter how small, starts with trust and understanding.
That approach has been at the core of Boyle Street's work since 1971. And through decades of change, one thing has remained constant: the community's generosity. It was donors, volunteers, and partners who made okimaw peyesew kamik possible — and that same generosity keeps Boyle Street's programs running every day. Every meal served, every ID provided, every safe place found shows that Edmontonians care about their neighbours.
We're honoured by the trust Edmontonians have placed in us for 54 years. You donated to our Build with Boyle capital campaign because you trusted us when we said that better was possible, and now okimaw peyesew kamik opens its doors in two weeks. You donate to our Emergency Response Fund, and we use it to provide lifesaving winter clothing in the frostbite capital of the world. You have always trusted us with your support because you care about the community that we share.
With winter around the corner, that support becomes even more critical. Right now, 5,000 people in Edmonton are experiencing homelessness: 5,000 sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers. Their challenges are complex — shaped by housing costs, health needs, and the ongoing effects of poverty and discrimination — and they cannot be solved by any one person or organization acting alone.
But we believe that change is possible. We see it all the time — small changes that add up to something big: how greeting someone by name lights up their face, how someone's life can change by having one person believe in them, how a warm meal can turn the worst day ever into a new day, full of new possibilities.
Our work makes change possible. This winter, Boyle Street is asking Edmontonians to help us support everyone who walks through the doors of okimaw peyesew kamik.
Because lasting change isn't built by any one person, organization, or building. It's built by all of us, one day at a time, working toward a future that is only possible together.
Learn more or donate at boylestreet.org/give.