A local business has stepped up to try and save a southeast Calgary youth centre that worked with at-risk kids.
The Cornerstone Youth Centre in Albert Park, just west of Forest Lawn, was forced to close its doors on Jan. 10 due to financial pressures.
Justin Klee with House of Cars said he and his business partners felt compelled to do something after seeing a story on Global News about the centre’s closure.
“We wanted to help out and give back to the community and try and save the centre,” Klee said.
Some of Klee’s business partners grew up in nearby Forest Lawn, and wanted to inspire the kids living in the area.
“[To] kind of show them there’s a better path, a better life out there,” Klee said.
“We’re young business guys, so just showing them how we did it, how to raise capital and kind of start a business. Kind of walk them through everyday stuff they don’t teach you in school.”
Klee and his partners offered to pay one year’s rent to keep the youth facility open as well as volunteer time to raise money to hire staff to keep the youth centre’s programs alive.
The centre had been struggling with a shortage of donations prior to its closure. The building the centre used is owned by the city but run by the local community association. Cornerstone had been paying monthly utilities but now the association wants the space back.
“Suddenly they’re asking us to pay [a] substantial amount of rent, from free all the way to $5,000 a month,” said Jeff Gray, Cornerstone’s executive director.
“Being a non-profit, that’s not something we have just set aside in a giant bank account. Every year is budgeted to the penny.”
About 70 kids used the youth centre for after-school programs and free meals.
Kim Elliott has lived in the neighbourhood for about 12 years, and said having a centre so close to home for her daughter gave her peace of mind.
“It makes me feel safe knowing where she is,” Elliott said. “Knowing she’s here, she’s in a safe environment, she’s with adults, she’s with other children around her age and she’s getting fed a meal.”
Elliott’s 11-year-old daughter Kaylee Barlow said she will miss the centre.
“I came to the centre every day because a lot of my friends were there and it was really fun,” Barlow said. “We got to play games, do programs, go skating, eat, socialize.”
The community association will vote on whether the centre can keep using the space on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the former Albert Park location.
Gray hopes people in the neighbourhood will come to the meeting and make their voices heard.
“If they see value in services like this, they need to communicate to the community association,” Gray said.
Global News reached out the community association several times for comment but did not receive a reply.
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