In 2001, the Dream Centre was no more than a dream to transform a rundown hotel on Macleod Trail.
But a Calgary real estate professional saw plenty of potential in the building and for people struggling with addictions.
Jim Moore is the CEO and one of the founders of the Dream Centre, a faith-based recovery organization, connected to the First Assembly Church.
He recalls how a pastor from the church approached him about buying the Nite Hotel.
“It was very exciting because this was a hotel with one of the largest strip clubs in Calgary, with a number of bars in it. In my closing statement to the gentleman who owned the hotel, I said ‘What is your legacy going to be? Taking clothes off women or putting clothes on men?’ Suddenly there were some tears running down his cheek and he said let’s make a deal. That’s how we opened the Dream Centre,” Moore said on Friday.
Moore is stepping down at the end of October after 20 years as the CEO.
“It has been a real journey. A lot of people don’t like where they go to work every day. My passion is so great, that I can hardly wait to get out of bed” Moore said.
“The work is important because you see a lot of men and women who have lost their way through all kinds of circumstances, not necessarily of their own doing, but they get into drugs and alcohol and it numbs the pain that they’ve experienced over a number of years,” Moore said.
Under Moore’s leadership, the organization grew from supporting 12 residents in one facility to over 371 residents in 49 properties.
Moore and his team have helped thousands of people on their recovery journey, including former resident Kiel Wood.
“I have been homeless numerous times and I was massively in debt. I destroyed my relationships and I showed up here very broken,” said Wood on Friday.
Wood says he was raised in a good home, but because of trauma in his life, he started drinking as a teen. Reaching out for help at the Dream Centre was scary but it may have saved his life.
“Jim Moore and this organization have affected so many lives, and my life has gone from such suicidal levels of darkness to such excitement and joy and peace and healing. I’m closer to my family than I’ve ever been and I’m one person. Thousands of people have come through this organization,” Wood said.
Wood said that after completing the 49-day program he slowly became debt free, purchased his first car in 12 years, and started a leadership role as an operations manager at work.
He said his interactions with Moore were always memorable.
“When I passed him in the hallway he just met my eyes, smiled at me, shook my hand and asked how I was doing. He treated me like a friend. He treated me with respect and dignity and I was not used to that. I didn’t see myself as an individual who deserved that at that time in my life,” Wood said.
The Dream Centre provides transitional housing at the building on Macleod Trail and also provides community housing, designed to be more of a long-term solution for people escaping homelessness and addiction, offering a balance of independence and support.
Moore said there’s a need for affordable housing in Calgary.
“It breaks my heart when I drive even along McLeod Trail, and I see people that are pushing baskets or carts and I know that they have moms they have dads. We have to tell the stories and we have to get the word out that these people are real people, and the challenge is helping others understand that they are human beings and they’re working toward a new life,” Moore said.
On October 23, the City of Calgary announced it awarded three parcels of city-owned land to the housing providers, which they said will create an estimated 100 new affordable homes.
Trellis Society for Community Impact purchased city land in Bowness, Calgary Dream Centre got land in Erlton and the Liberty Housing Organization got land in Parkdale.
The non-market housing land sales fit with the city’s housing strategy, and follow two similar sales earlier this year that produced nearly 290 affordable homes.
Moore has seen a lot of change over the past two decades when it comes to addictions and homelessness in Calgary.
“Over the years the Dream Centre has had chartered accountants, we’ve had police, we’ve had ministers, we’ve had top drummers. We’ve had NHL players on occasion come use the facility. My heart goes out to all of the people because you can be drawn in so easily to alcohol and drugs to numb pain that none of us really understand where they’re coming from,” Moore said.
Demand for services continues to grow, nearly doubling since last year.
As of the end of September, the Dream Centre had a waitlist of 43 individuals, with 502 intake appointments so far this year.
In 2022, they had 23 on the waitlist for the end of September.
Moore was a recipient of the Alberta Lifetime Achievement Award in April of 2022 and has had an impact on the lives of over 9,000 individuals who have come to the CDC for addiction treatment and housing support.
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