THE CITY: MORE ROOM AT THE INN

When it was the Ogden Hotel and the Alyth Lodge, the heritage building in Calgary’s southeast earned a reputation for being unwelcoming. Now, as Victory Manor, its doors are wide open.

When it was the Ogden Hotel and the Alyth Lodge, the heritage building in Calgary’s southeast earned a reputation for being unwelcoming. Now, as Victory Manor, its doors are wide open.

Ogden is an unlikely setting for a redemption story. One of Calgary’s historic neighbourhoods, it has a reputation for being rough and ready, with an emphasis on the rough. I’ve owned a home here for five years, and every time I tell someone where I live, I get the same raised eyebrows. But the roughest places can make the most dramatic turnarounds. Nowhere is this more evident than in the metamorphosis of the Ogden Hotel into Victory Manor.

Located on Ogden Road, a street more famous for its backdoor access to downtown than for any idyllic main- street charm, Victory Manor is a starkly attractive heritage building. A sort of wedding photo backdrop dusted with east Calgary grit, it must have seemed like a mirage when it appeared on the bald prairie over 100 years ago. Inside, the building continues to surprise: it’s run by the Victory Foundation, an organization that began as a street church in Victoria Park, and provides transitional housing for 60men.

Before the Stampede Park expansion, the foundation renovated abandoned houses and ran children’s programs in that community. Now housed in the Victory Manor, it continues to run a small community church. As a member of the congregation, I have an insider’s view of the housing program.

When the Victory Foundation bought it for $ 2.5 million in 2007, the building was in sad shape. As the Alyth Lodge ( formerly the Ogden Hotel), it was a urine- soaked, bug- infested, slum- landlord- run dump that was virtually condemned. The authorities were regular visitors. “Police would arrive in three or four squad cars, and the guys would pelt them with books, shoes, you name it,” says Tom Maxwell, who is the Victory Foundation’s chief operating officer.

The foundation convinced the city and the community to give its idea a chance. A grant from the Calgary Homeless Foundation and private donations paid for the building, but taking possession presented its own problems. For starters, the building was still occupied. “We didn’t kick anybody out,” Maxwell says. “If they wanted to join the transitional program, great; if not, OK. But as they moved out, we replaced them with guys who were part of the program.”

When the building was half full, the new residents were moved into one wing while the other was gutted “right down to the studs,” as Maxwell puts it. The residents were then moved to the newly renovated wing while the process was repeated. It was only when the multimillion- dollar renovation was complete that the Manor started running at full capacity.

The 60 tenants, who are either self- or agency- referred, meet regularly with caseworkers. These sessions cover things like financial management, addictions counselling, and therapy.

The approach has already produced results, according to Matthew Bannerman, who runs the program. “There are at least 15 guys who were homeless for three or four years who have been here for at least a year,” he says. “They are now employed or have social benefits.” Residents have single rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens, and pay a flat rate each month that covers room and board, with evening meals taken in a communal dining room. “We created a food program, because we want the guys to eat better, and we want to create a social environment,” Maxwell says.

For some residents, it takes time to feel at home. Kerry, 57, moved in three years ago, and says he took several months to adjust to community life. “I was such a stuck- up person. There were people ( here) that I would have just walked by and judged five years ago, but I got to know them personally, and formed a bond. No one gets special treatment here. It really put things into perspective.”

Kerry grew up in Ogden, and after university, opened an investing company, becoming a millionaire by the time he turned 27. His life started to crumble when he became friends with a drug dealer and developed a crack addiction. He spent years in and out of rehab before hitting rock bottom. Ironically, he found himself once again in Ogden, but this time as a resident of Victory Manor. It was a humbling experience. “For the first two or three months, I didn’t venture into the community, because I’d run into people I used to go to school with. At first I didn’t tell them ( where

I was living), but then I decided that I needed to be honest.” At the Manor, Kerry began the process of rebuilding his life, “just getting a routine, going to work, taking pride in my work. Making a life for myself. An honest, truthful life.” After two- and- a- half years, he was ready tomove out.

Robert, also 57, currently lives at the Manor. He used to work for a major airplane manufacturer until the stress of the job took its toll. “It was very stressful, and I started drinking. Because of that, my marriage broke apart, I got a DUI, and things just went downhill from there. I ran away,” he says. He found himself with nothing but a backpack, sleeping on a mat at a shortterm shelter. Seeking stability, he ended up at the Manor, and slowly began to rebuild his life. “It gives you a place to come back to,” he says. “I needed a sense of belonging so that I can get things done. I thought I was washed up, and it’s brought a lot of self- esteem back to me.” After a year and a half as a resident, Robert has become a familiar face and helps new residents settle in. He even sponsors a child inKenya. “It’s time to pay it forward,” he says.

And what about Ogden? It’s more difficult to measure change in a community than in a person’s life, or in the life cycle of a building. But there are indicators that Ogden, too, is experiencing redemption. “Most of us who live in the area consider Millican- Ogden to be a diamond in the rough,” says Rick Smith, president of the community association. “There is a tremendous amount of community pride here, particularly with those who have been long- time residents of the area. Older folks would prefer to live out their senior years here, and many of the kids who grew up in the Ogden area have chosen to stay and are now raising their families here.”

The neighbourhood is also luring newcomers like me, with its compromise between the charming but prohibitively expensive inner city, and the far- flung, bland suburbs. “You arrive in Ogden, and it’s all quaint houses,” gushes Missy Venaas, a TV and video producer. “The streets seem wider, the trees feel bigger. It’s a small town in the middle of the city. And there’s a very eclectic crowd, with lots of creative types. It’s not just middle- class or workingclass. It feels real.” Graphic designer Scott Frank concurs: “It’s a small- town mentality, 10 minutes from downtown. People are warm— they’re the kind of people who have your back.”

While the diamond in the rough still needs polishing, I like to think that Tom Maxwell says it best: “Victory Manor was written off. Ogden is a community that was written off. Things can be restored.”

It’s more difficult to measure change in a community than in a person’s life.