Turning Point Society

01/29/2026

Are you a local business, social or health agency or community member that has concerns about the limitation of available resources for those experiencing homelessness or addiction as it presents downtown and throughout our city and need support understanding these issues or addressing the impact?

Do you or your teams need access to overdose prevention, overdose response or social diversion supports from Turning Point?

Please reach out, we want to help! Although our funding and programming has shrunk, we are still here and carry many years of experience supporting this population and our community. We want to help as much as possible.

Let’s connect, partner, and support each other. We care for our community and for all those in it.

Call us at 403-346-8858 or email administration@turningpoint-ca.org

01/25/2026

You’re already recycling your bottles. This is just a way to turn that habit into local support for organizations doing important work right here in Central Alberta.

When you donate your bottles in January, you’ll be supporting Turning Point Society in Red Deer and Blackfalds FCSS in Blackfalds.

It’s a simple system with real impact:
▪️Recycle your bottles at any COSMOS Bottle Depot and choose the Blue Bin option at the refund ATM, or
▪️Drop your empties into one of our bright blue bins around town, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Big thanks to our Blue Bin sponsors, Zed 98.9 Red Deer and New Country 95.5, for helping keep this program going and keeping community connections strong.

01/19/2026

Hello Community. You may have heard through the media and our channels that Turning Point was collaborating on a winter warm up space this season with Shining Mountains and with funding from the City of Red Deer.
Unfortunately we need to share an important update; that we had made the difficult and heavy decision to withdraw from this project as of last week and we informed our partners of this decision on Tuesday January 13th, 2025.

This decision is the result of unforseen circumstances, and difficulties in relation to logistics, operations and road blocks to a successful participation on this project.

Given our recent program losses (including the drop in space we operated until November 2025), our agency is working with much more limited resources than prior, and we are actively working on strategy and scope of participation in ongoing service provision; being mindful of how these program losses have affected our clients and community.

Individuals experiencing homelessness ( as well as our other previous program participants) are and have been undoubtely at increased risk this winter and we had hoped to reduce inevitable harm through participation in an additional warm up space, and are deeply disappointed that we will not be able to provide such a necessary service.

For further background, Turning Point historically operated a drop in space that was well utilized and addressed many of the basic, social and health needs of those that are now at increased risk this winter. Last year our drop in saw 80-100 unique individuals daily who utilized our space for warming up, to rest and center themselves, for a washroom and access to a phone, for a place to store their mail, for food and clothing, and in addition to the numerous other wrap around services we provided. The majority of those utilizing this drop in space were either unhoused or at risk of being uhhoused.
When the recent major funding loss to Turning Point from the provincial government was announced, we shared our concerns of increased client vulnerabilties with stakeholders and decision makers, highlighting the incredible gaps this drop in closure would create in our city. We had concerns of local fallout to other agencies, businesses and shelters, especially as the province cut our funding right before winter hit with only three months notice (we have been providing services since 1988). We offered at that time (in summer and fall) to continue to run a basic needs warm up space in our building (which remains set up appropriately for just this) for all of winter to ensure a smoother transiton for program particpants and the community as a whole, but no funding was made available and no transition or continuity of services was provided by the province as inititally promised and as was stated would occur in the media by our ADM of Health.

Unfortunately today we are seeing many of those concerns we anticipated occurring, as businesses and community members are expressing the devastating effects of insufficient shelter space and loss of social and health services in our community. As an agency we truly wish we could do more, and that our expertise and experience could be better utilized to support.

At this time, we are still operating our outreach services -Dayreach and Nightreach, as well as offering Naloxone training and kit distribution. We recognize these program themselves are not enough to fill the gap that our previous well utilized and appraised programming losses have left, but we remain committed to our values, and to our contribution to safer and healthier community. We will continue to adapt and to serve in whatever capacity we are able to, where fits our agency values and client needs.

Thank you for the continued support, and if you have further questions or concerns about this information then please reach out to us to clarify. Thank you to all those that applied to work at the warm up space with us and we hope to work with you on a different project soon.

01/15/2026

01/06/2026

Before the holidays, Hailee from Third Eyed Rabbiiit - Hailee generously donated $170 to us, which she fundraised through a virtual yoga nidra class. Thank you so much! It is always so cool to see the different ways our community comes together to create an impact.

Hailee has posted her January calendar on her socials, so be sure to check it out. When we all support each other, a lot of good can happen.

01/05/2026

Thank you Cosmos Group of Companies !

12/22/2025

Thank you, everyone. We are so thankful for how our community showed up when we called out for support. We had so many volunteers that we were able to accomplish our goals this holiday season, and we are now putting a pause on volunteer opportunities until the new year. If you were interested in volunteering but did not have a chance this holiday season, please keep your eye out for future opportunities. For now, we sincerely thank everyone.

12/16/2025

UPDATE: All of the bananas have now been spoken for!

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered to help bake and turn this generous donation into delicious goodies. We are incredibly grateful for your kindness and holiday spirit — thank you for helping make a difference!

🧑‍🍳👩‍🍳 Calling all bakers! 🍪🧁

We received a large donation of bananas, and unfortunately we won’t be able to hand them out before they go bad. So what’s the next best thing? Banana bread, muffins, and cookies!

With the holidays here, many of you may already be baking — would you be willing to add a little extra to your holiday baking?
We’re looking for volunteers who could take a few bunches of bananas and turn them into baked goods so we can share with individuals during our outreach.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy helping with, please reach out to us. We would be so thankful! 🍌✨

12/14/2025

Come volunteer with us! We need some help leading up into the holidays. Help us package snacks and build gift bags for NightReach Days of Giving. With our reduced staffing because of the loss of many of our programs, we need help from volunteers now more than ever. If you're interested in giving back to our community in a meaningful way this holiday season, reach out to us!

403-346-8858
administration@turningpoint-ca.org

12/13/2025

Each year NightReach gives out gift bags in the days leading up to Christmas. We are asking for donations so we can give these out again this year. How many nights we can give out gifts leading up to Christmas depends on the amount of donations we get.

With the loss of our main drop-in, unhoused folks have one less safe space they can warm up in during day-time hours. As such, we are primarily asking for $5-$10 gift cards for either McDonald's or Tim Horton's. This allows folks to get inside as paying patrons and warm up when it is cold.

We are asking for winter clothing items like hats, mitts, scarves, neck gaiters, socks, and while they may not fit in gift bags, we are always looking for boots, winter jackets, and snow pants. Emergency blankets, hand and foot warmers, and emergency candles can help people stay warmer, too.

We would like individual sized hygiene items, like travel sized tooth pastes, small deodorants, lotions, shampoos and conditioners.

And, of course, candy - everyone deserves a little treat.

If you are unsure what to get or don't have the time to go out, we accept monetary donations, too. You can donate online through our website, cash in person, or by cheque.

Please give us a call to arrange dropping off donations. If you have questions, please e-mail our administration team. We are open Monday - Friday from 9AM until 5PM, closed for lunch from 12PM - 1PM.

403-346-8858
administration@turningpoint-ca.org
https://turningpoint-ca.org/

12/08/2025

has created a phone support line for folks that are grieving the loss of a loved one due to substance use, or for folks needing support as a loved one struggles with substance use. You'll speak with peers who have navigated the same complexities, which gives them an understanding that is invaluable. Please consider reaching out if you need support - and know that you are not alone.

Thursdays and Fridays
4PM - 10PM MST
1-866-355-6784
momsstoptheharm.com

12/03/2025

Our DayReach program has been out in the community! You can find them walking the streets from 9:30AM until 4PM, with an hour break between 12PM and 1PM for lunch. Typically you'll find them around the downtown core, around the pedestrian bridge, City Hall Park, and around the trails.

We are incredibly grateful for Amethyst House, who invited us into their space to deliver services to those that need it. If you are interested in having us at your space to provide supports to people experiencing vulnerabilities, please reach out to us. We are interested in collaborating to find a way to bring supports to those that need it in a way that works for everyone.

e-mail: administration@turningpoint-ca.org
office phone: 403-346-8858

If we aren't stationed somewhere, we'll be out on the streets with backpacks - much like NightReach, but instead during daytime hours between 930AM and 4PM. If you need support please give DayReach a call or text. The number is the same as NightReach. 403-896-3879.