203-15 Avenue SE
Calgary, AB T2G 1G4
Executive Director: Kathy Christiansen
Board Chair: Nicole Sherren

Charitable Reg. #:11882 3111 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 4/5]

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Most recent Audited financial statements available on the charity’s website.

B

RESULTS REPORTING

Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

n/r

DEMONSTRATED IMPACT

The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.

NEED FOR FUNDING

Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.

92%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 92 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Alpha House Society:

Founded in 1981, Alpha House Society (formally Calgary Alpha House Society) provides a safe space for people struggling with addiction, as well as mental and physical health issues. In 2019, Alpha House expanded its operations to serve individuals in Lethbridge, Alberta in addition to Calgary. The charity operates four core programs: Shelter, Detox & Transition, Housing, and Outreach. A breakdown of spending on these programs is not provided.

Through its Shelter Program, Alpha House offers 120 beds to people struggling with addiction. The charity reports that the average shelter utilization rate was 107% in 2020. In total, Alpha House’s Shelter Program had 75,192 entries and served 4,430 people in F2020.

Alpha House’s Detox Program offers 42 beds to people going through withdrawal. The program offers medical support, opioid replacement, therapy referrals to long-term treatment, and access to housing support. For detox patients needing extended support, there are 12 beds in the transitional program. In F2021, the Detox Program served 896 people, although the charity states that covid-19 affected this number.

Through its Housing Program, Alpha House supports recovering addicts in finding and maintaining long-term accommodation. The charity provides different levels of support depending on client needs. For those who can live independently, Alpha House helps coordinate leases with landlords. The charity offers 24-hour care in its five long-term housing buildings. One of the buildings is for veterans and the newest house is women-only. In April 2020, Alpha House added a Transitional Housing Program, which supports individuals currently experiencing homelessness and transitioning into long-term housing. In total, the charity reports that its Housing Program served 295 people in F2020.

Alpha House’s Outreach Teams respond to street level issues through mobile response units. The Downtown Outreach Addiction Partnership Team (DOAP Team) deals with addiction and public intoxication. Alpha House reports that the DOAP Team served 3,685 individuals in 2020. The Encampment Team helps people experiencing homelessness find housing. Finally, the Needle Response Team cleans up needles and needle debris around the community. In F2021, the team collected 56,720 needles.

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Results and Impact

In F2021, Alpha House provided shelter to 3,818 homeless individuals suffering from addiction. Additionally, the Transitional Housing Program moved over 105 individuals to long-term, stable housing since March 2020.

The charity emphasizes that the covid-19 pandemic has increased the need for housing. This is because staying at home is widely accepted as the way to mitigate the spread of the virus. As such, Alpha House developed response programs that housed 110+ individuals through covid-19 who would have otherwise slept on the streets of Calgary.

Alpha House states that for every dollar invested in its DOAP program, there is a social return of $9.43. However, the charity does not provide any of the details or data behind this calculation.

While Charity Intelligence highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Alpha House Society’s results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).

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Finances

Alpha House Society had total donations of $9.8m in F2020. The charity received $8.9m in grants from Calgary Homeless Foundation which comprised 91% of donations or 52% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 7% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are less than 1% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 8%. For every dollar donated, 92 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Alpha House has $3.3m funding reserves, once $801k in debt is accounted for. The charity’s funding reserves have increased by 716% since F2018. Alpha House could cover program costs for less than 3 months with reserves, indicating a need for funding.

This charity report has been sent to Alpha House Society for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 7, 2021 by Sydney Olexa.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202020192018
Administrative costs as % of revenues 7.4%7.0%6.9%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 0.4%0.6%1.7%
Total overhead spending 7.8%7.6%8.5%
Program cost coverage (%) 21.8%21.5%3.3%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202020192018
Donations 9,79810,05310,774
Government funding 5,7844,9154,053
Fees for service 1,5921,4361,163
Investment income 46120
Other income 12190
Total revenues 17,23316,43615,990
Program costs 15,13013,90312,289
Administrative costs 1,2791,1561,097
Fundraising costs 3459178
Other costs 48770
Total spending 16,49115,19513,563
Cash flow from operations 7421,2412,427
Capital spending 1401384,800
Funding reserves 3,2912,988404

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 146

Avg. compensation: $58,440

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
3
$40k - $80k
6
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.alphahousecalgary.com
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 403 234-7388

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001