Second Calgary Pop-Up Care Village aims to help the underserved population
By Eula Mengullo, January 23 2022—
Another Calgary Pop-Up Care Village (C-PUCV) is set to take place on Jan. 24 from 12 to 6 p.m. at the Kerby Centre. The centre is located downtown and is accessible by the blue line transit. This is a drop-in event with no sign-up requirements prior.
Bill Zheng — a nursing student at the University of Calgary and co-manager of the event — remarks on the overwhelming support they received from the city and the campus community that prompted them to host another pop-up care festival.
“[Several faculties] across campus are very interested and very eager to help out,” said Zheng.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to, especially in the nursing faculty including professors and instructors are very excited to see this happening.”
Similar to the first pop-up care village, the festival will feature several organizations and services.
“This event is for anyone experiencing systemic vulnerabilities,” said Zheng. “That does not necessarily mean that you have to be experiencing homelessness or access to services. Anyone experiencing difficulty getting food or even difficulty getting certain services can come and access the ones [at the festival] if they wish.
“Even people on campus who might be struggling with food insecurity and are wondering how to get connected with the [Calgary] Food Bank can come and receive more information about it,” Zheng continued.
This event in particular will have culture-specific immigrant agencies as well as family and youth-serving agencies.
“We saw [at the first event] that there was a need for immigrant services, youth services and specialized ID clinics so we were able to connect with those agencies for this event,” said Zheng.
There will also be full-on catering provided by the Kerby Centre from Boston Pizza, Zero Food Waste Foundation and other organizations. Several event partners will also be offering non-perishable food items for attendees.
The services are guaranteed to be available until 4:30 p.m. Afterwards, vendors may choose whether or not they would like to stay until 6 p.m.
“This event is [shaping to be] much larger than the first in terms of the demographics that we’re serving, which I think is amazing,” said Zheng.
In his closing remarks, Zheng disclosed that they are planning to make the Calgary Pop-Up Care Village to be a sustainable, biannual festival. Plans for the September C-PUCV are currently underway.
To learn more about the second Calgary Pop-Up Care Village and the list of services that will be provided, visit the C-PUCV website.