A lifeline for frontline heroes: A story from Calgary Dream Centre

About Calgary Dream Centre

The Calgary Dream Centre is a recovery organization, built on the most selfless dream that someday, the City of Calgary will not need them anymore. With 49 owned properties and 12 case workers, they have helped guide men and women caught in cycles of homelessness and addiction into lives of purpose since 2003. Their mission is to help people restore their dignity and discover their destiny through core values of mercy, compassion, and respect. They demonstrate these values every day as they engage with the people in our programs; supporting them as they take steps towards recovery and a new life.

These are more than just buzzwords; when asked what they love about their jobs, Hermina, Austin, and Mark shared the following:

The challenge

Community outreach organizations face a unique set of risks associated with the important work they do, and the Calgary Dream Centre is no exception. While having staff visit at-risk individuals in vulnerable, often unpredictable situations, it is critical for hazards to be identified and mediocre or apathetic safety processes to be rejected. The Calgary Dream Centre described the following as their biggest challenges:

Safety risks and volatile situations

Due to the nature of community support work, employees can come face-to-face with unexpected challenges throughout their day, especially when responding to client situations and after-hours emergencies.
When discussing those challenges, Mark highlighted it's important that Calgary Dream Centre anticipates these events, preparing their staff with the tools and knowledge required to get help in the rare occasions it's needed. He emphasized how critical it is to have a safety software that can protect employees from these unpredictable scenarios.

Need for real-time monitoring and accountability

Not knowing in real-time the location of their case managers was another challenge. Hermina expressed the need for more accessible monitoring through an app to track on-call staff locations:

Mark agreed that a large drawback of their old system was the lack of hazard timers, or a way to know exactly when their people were in compromising situations. If the case worker reported they would be at a home for an hour and something happened in the first five minutes, they wouldn’t know. He emphasized, "We really started talking about how bad our old system was, and that was something that triggered us to go, yeah, we really need something better."

Increasing mental health issues and substance abuse trends

The Calgary Dream Centre observed an upward trend in mental health issues and substance abuse, particularly opioids like fentanyl. Mark highlighted the challenge, stating, "Fentanyl and opioid use across the board is increasing.”

Austin also noted the impact of greater mental health needs contributing to more volatile situations, increasing the risk exposure to Dream Centre employees.

These challenges reflect the complex nature of the Calgary Dream Centre's work, where safety concerns, accountability, and evolving substance abuse patterns require effective solutions.

Why Aware360

After assessing these challenges, the Calgary Dream Centre sought a safety solution that aligned with its commitment to staff safety and the well-being of individuals recovering from addiction and homelessness. The decision to choose Aware360 was driven not only by the need for a reliable, real-time monitoring system that could enhance staff safety and communication during critical situations, but also a system that was flexible to adapt to their needs. The Dream Centre case workers use the SafetyAware app paired with the compact wearable device, the Belle X 4G LTE Wearable, so that they are protected wherever they go.

Two-way peace of mind

Aware360's SafetyAware not only offers real-time monitoring but also addresses the need for better lines of communication with employees. The system's reporting capabilities provide transparency and accountability, ensuring that staff are properly managing client interactions and locations. More importantly, staff can operate effectively knowing they have an SOS button and means of two-way communication. This added peace of mind has been evident, according to Austin, who stated “our staff feel far safer with this system than they did with our previous system.”

A flexible, real-time solution

Mark and Austin use the system the most. They login first thing in the morning to see who is being monitored and throughout the day to respond as quickly as they can to exception-based alerts (notifications of abnormal worker status, such as expired timers or active requests for assistance). “It’s nice to have 2 sets of eyes on it.” said Hermina, noting how easy it is for them to share and switch administrative duties.

Balancing privacy and safety with hazard timers

In addition to the 8-hour shift timers, case workers use a much shorter (5 minute) hazard timer when they begin higher risk activities. This allows the Calgary Dream Centre to balance privacy and safety, as there is no need for workers to check-in outside of specific higher-risk tasks. If they require assistance, their team will be notified and appropriate action will be taken, wherever they are. 

The new system also provides more advanced data and addresses concerns about staff integrity, as Mark mentioned, "With this reporting, we get a much more accurate picture."

The result

The implementation of SafetyAware resulted in concrete benefits for the Calgary Dream Centre. The system's functionality extended to monitoring after-hours emergencies and unscheduled activities, allowing them to continue changing lives, every single day.

Aware360's SafetyAware not only met the specific needs expressed by the Calgary Dream Centre but also exceeded expectations, providing a comprehensive safety solution aligned with the organization's mission. The tangible improvements in real-time monitoring, peace of mind, and staff accountability showcased the value that Aware360 can bring to any community services organization.