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Art Smith

You are here: Home1 / Meet Us2 / History3 / Art Smith
  • Our Beginning
  • Art Smith

Art Smith and the Birth of Calgary Homeless Foundation

  • 1990-1997

    Joining Forces

    MLA Bonnie Laing chairs a special action committee on homelessness, while Alderman Bob Hawkesworth leads a separate Calgary housing committee.

    The two groups team up at a dinner hosted by John Currie, former president of Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

  • 1997

    The Creation of Calgary Homeless Foundation

    Art Smith announces the creation of Calgary Homeless Foundation, bringing together the Hawkesworth-Laing Committee and leaders of Calgary’s business community.

    Calgary Homeless Foundation opens its doors at the McDougall Centre and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein promises $2 million to the organization.

    1997

  • 1998-1999

    Increasing the Housing Supply

    The United Nations urges Canada to address homelessness problem.

    In accordance with the Hawkesworth-Laing Committee’s Community Action Plan, Calgary Homeless Foundation embraces the aims of increasing the housing supply, creating an umbrella system, and increasing Aboriginal services and community awareness of homelessness.

    Forty-four families receive damage deposits totaling over $15,000.

  • 2000

    New Leadership

    Art Smith resigns from the board of Calgary Homeless Foundation, and John Currie takes over leadership.

    Agencies release Housing Our Homeless, defining eight sectors of homelessness.

    2000

  • 2001-2006

    Calgary Community Land Trust Established

    Calgary Homeless Foundation helps establish Calgary Community Land Trust Society, or CCLT, to hold title and manage land for affordable housing.

    Brian O’Leary, head of CCLT, publishes an editorial in the Calgary Herald entitled, “A New Strategy to End Homelessness”

  • 2007

    Provincial Strategy Announced to End Homelessness

    Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announces secretariat to develop a provincial strategy to end homelessness in a decade.

    2007

  • 2008

    10 Year Plan Launched

    Art Smith helps launch 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. Six months after the Plan is announced, Smith dies on June 20, 2008.

Art Smith—politician, decorated war veteran, and businessman—was a Calgary icon, known for his charisma and visionary contributions to the community, including the creation of Calgary Homeless Foundation.

Born and raised in Calgary, Art served as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he returned to the city to work in the oil patch and later joined politics, serving as city alderman, Alberta MLA, and three-time member of Parliament.

In 1998, Calgary was experiencing an economic boom and people from all over Canada poured into the city to find work. Accommodation became scarce and many people’s wages could not cover their damage deposits, leaving them without a home.

When Art learned about the problem from a radio interview with the Salvation Army, he knew he could do something to change Calgary’s story.

On March 25, 1998, Art called a meeting. Before prominent members of Calgary’s business community and a committee chaired by city and provincial politicians that had been studying the issue of homelessness, Art declared the creation of a new organization called Calgary Homeless Foundation.

“Art was a ‘doer’,” says John Currie, who attended the meeting and later served as the organization’s CEO, board chair and vice-chair. “When Art got an idea, it was transitioned into action very quickly.” Thanks to Art, Calgary Homeless Foundation became the first formal effort in Calgary to address the problem of homelessness.

Over the next decade, Art continued to steer the work of Calgary Homeless Foundation. He strengthened the organization’s partnerships with the private sector, government, the faith community, and agencies to ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness received the best support. Despite his battle with cancer, he also helped launch Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in 2008.

Six months after the launch of the 10 Year Plan, on June 30, 2008, Art Smith died at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife, Betty Ann, who supported him tirelessly in his endeavors, and by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As a parting gift to Calgary Homeless Foundation, he asked friends and family members to dedicate memorial tributes to the organization.

“It’s very difficult to do something about [the problem of homelessness] as an individual, but Art created a vehicle […] that allowed people to participate,” says Jim Stanford, former CEO of Petro-Canada.

Today, Calgary Homeless Foundation is recognized beyond Calgary and the borders of Canada for its work on homelessness. Art’s legacy and his vision continue to thrive and to change people’s lives, helping everyone find their way home.

Additional Information

To find out more about Art Smith and CHF’s journey, please visit The Beginning of the End.

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Calgary Homeless Foundation
Rocky Mountain Plaza
Suite 1500, 615 Macleod Trail SE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 4T8

Ph: (403) 237-6456
Fax: (403) 262-2924

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