New executive director joins Our Place organization
Julian Daly is the new executive director of Our Place, which he says has earned widespread renown for its work with vulnerable people.
Daly, 54, comes to Our Place after 11 years with Boyle Street Community Services, the largest organization for the homeless in Edmonton.
He said his time there taught him a great deal “about a side of our country that remains invisible to most of our fellow citizens.”
Our Place, serving the homeless, the mentally challenged and many other groups, stands out, Daly said.
“We didn’t hear an awful lot about a lot of organizations in the rest of Canada, but Our Place was certainly one of the organizations that we had heard of,” he said. “It’s held in high regard in homeless-serving organizations circles.”
He said he was approached to put his name forward for the Our Place posting.
Ernie Quantz, chairman of the Our Place Society board, said Daly was chosen following “a comprehensive national search” and is being looked at to bring strong, passionate leadership to his new job.
Daly, 54, said he sees a lot of similarities between Our Place and Boyle Street, including a focus on harm reduction and on unconditional love for their clientele.
“Both organizations are very community-oriented and all about the people that are being served, and putting them at the heart of the work,” he said. “Very similar in terms of the values and the way they work and the people they serve.”
Daly acknowledged the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that staff, clientele, volunteers and others at Our Place “will need to work together to forge a future in the new reality that we all find ourselves in.”
He said that includes “standing steadfast” for marginalized people in the community.
COVID-19 has curtailed activities at Our Place, but on a regular day, Our Place provides more than 1,200 meals, 1,400 snacks, hot showers, health care, addiction recovery services, counselling, 45 transitional-housing units and more.
Daly said the process of reopening has begun: Dining areas, for example, are openinga nd can accommodate 40 people at a time.
He said Our Place does not require big alterations.
“I don’t foresee significant change in that respect,” Daly said. “I think it’s steady as it goes.”
Ending homelessness and finding permanent housing for the people Our Place serves “remains a central goal,” he said.
“We’d like to build on that work and ensure that more of the folk that we serve are housed permanently. It’s been great that the government stepped up and provided the hotel spaces for people to get off the street and out of the camps and into proper accommodation.”
Daly, who is single with no children, replaces Don Evans, who served for seven years. He drew praise for his work when he resigned last December.