Founded in 1989, CUPS Calgary Society works to help Calgarians escape poverty and overcome trauma. The charity supports people to become more resilient and handle challenges, live self-sufficiently, and maintain good health. By treating and preventing childhood trauma, CUPS aims to end the cycle of poverty. In F2019, CUPS worked with 8,084 people, representing a decrease of 29% from F2018. The decrease is a result of the charity focusing on those who are actively involved in their care.

A Charity Intelligence 2019 Top 10 Canadian Impact Charity

In F2019, CUPS completed 2,633 resiliency tools. A resilience tool is an assessment tool that helps determine what types of supports clients need. The matrices cover supports in four main resilience domains: economic, social-emotional health, and developmental.

CUPS Primary Health Services supported 44,029 patient visits in F2019. The clinic provides walk-in medical care, such as check-ups, prescriptions, and immunizations. Also, 340 adults and children accessed oral health care at CUPS Dental Clinic.

CUPS provides three types of economic supports. The Crisis Intervention Fund provides low-income earners with one-time financial aid to cover housing costs, such as first month's rent and eviction notices. The charity also provides a graduated rent subsidy program that provides ongoing financial aid for people who have graduated from the housing first program. In F2019, 1,092 people received housing services and supports. Tax clinics provide any low-income earner in Alberta with free assistance in filing income tax forms.

Social and emotional support programs help adults and families build skills and be involved in the local community. The CUPS Family Development Centre provides goal-setting support, parent education, skill development, and community referrals. Participants must be low-income earners with a child (or expecting a child). All participants receive food, childcare, and transportation help while visiting the centre.

The CUPS Child Development Centre provides children from low-income families with the supports needed to learn and grow. The centre offers full-day preschool, kindergarten, and health care services.

Data is from F2019, as the charity's 2020 Annual Report has not been posted at the time of writing this profile. 

CUPS Calgary Society is a Large charity, receiving $16.4m in donations and government funding in F2020. Government funding is included in donations in the F2020 audited financial statements and could not be broken out as the charity's 2020 T3010 filing with the CRA was not available at the time of this profile. The charity also received $450k in service fees. Administrative costs are 16% of revenues and fundraising costs are 4% of donations. For every dollar donated, 80 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. Funding reserves of $4.7m can cover 4.3 months of annual program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to CUPS Calgary Society for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 22, 2020 by Tenzin Shomar.