KEN UZELOC: DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF, DROP-IN CENTRE CHAIR

Ken Uzeloc has spent more than 25 years putting out fires.

Which makes sense for a deputy fire chief.

But his most challenging role, while helping save lives, may be as board chair of the Calgary Drop-In Centre.

“What I have learned in both is you can look at a person and form an opinion, but you do not know what that person is, or has gone through, until you get to know him.”

Uzeloc, 49, knew he wanted to be a firefighter as a kid, hanging out at the fire station, hearing stories of saving lives from a family friend, the fire chief in hometown Trail, B.C.

And while he took pharmacology at university — “I needed a backup plan” — Calgary’s fire department turned dream into reality.

He served 10 years in downtown Fire Station No. 1, meeting vulnerable, homeless people along the riverbank and seeing how others treated them.

“The perception was they are just drug addicts or alcoholics. But having seen firefighters reach a breaking point suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome), I knew there was more to it. Something in life has put them over the edge and they can’t cope.”

So when the father of three daughters heard the DI was looking for board members, he joined.

In charge of risk management for the fire department, Uzeloc is now into his second year chairing the DI, which runs Canada’s largest homeless shelter while providing everything from affordable and seniors’ housing, to health and skills programs.

This year, Uzeloc wants the DI to become a co-ordination centre for all the needs of the 4,000 homeless people it gives hope to each day — a triage operation working collaboratively with other agencies.

Uzeloc accepts that homelessness will likely never go away, but believes it can be reduced.

Key is removing obstacles; getting shattered peoples’ lives back on track.

“Kindness is great but if you don’t provide a different outcome, have you really made a difference?”