Fresh Start RecoveryAnnual Report 2025
Together
Without End
People have always been the purpose.
Read the opening letters ↓
Gratitude-Generosity-CommunityHousing. Treating. Supporting.
Together
The Compass That Guides Our Work
- Our Purpose
- Providing Solutions to Save Lives, Rebuild Families, and Strengthen Communities.
- Our Vision
- Meeting Every Individual, Supporting for Life.
- Our Values
- Authenticity, Leadership, Objectivity, Accessibility, Integrity, and Trust.
- Mission Statement
- Fresh Start Recovery’s mission is to provide relationship-based addiction treatment and ongoing support by meeting individuals where they are and walking with them through recovery, helping them rebuild their lives, reconnect with family, and stay engaged in a community that sustains recovery.
Gratitude-Generosity-Community
We are grateful for the people who make Fresh Start possible and for the opportunity to do this work together. We see it at our Gratitude gatherings, where we celebrate a group’s completion, recognize each person’s work, and acknowledge the people who helped them get there.
Gratitude-Generosity-Community are not just words we use. They are part of how this place works. They form a circle with no real beginning and no end.
Someone may come to us asking for help. Someone else may give their time, share their experience or make a gift. Sometimes we receive. Sometimes we give. Most of us, if we are fortunate, will do both.
Receiving support can create gratitude. Gratitude can move us to give something back. That generosity helps build and sustain a community where the next person can find support, belonging and hope.
People move through that circle in different ways and at different times. They may step away and return when they are ready. There is no single path into recovery, service or community.
Across Calgary and Lethbridge, the people change and the circumstances change, but the circle keeps moving.
There is always room for one more person to receive support, and there is always something each of us can contribute.
That is how community grows. One person helping another, and then another.
Land Acknowledgement
In the spirit of respect and truth, Fresh Start Recovery acknowledges that our work takes place on the traditional lands of the peoples of Treaty 7, including the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda Nations.
We also recognize the Métis, Inuit and Indigenous people from many Nations who live, work and gather on these lands today.
Acknowledgement carries responsibility. Fresh Start is committed to listening, learning, advancing reconciliation and building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities, while continuing to support all those affected by addiction.
A year of connection
People Have Always Been the Purpose
Fresh Start provides housing, treatment and support so people can build meaningful lives in recovery. People do not fit neatly into one program, one stage or one definition of what recovery should look like. The support around them should not either.
As one organization, our work is connected by one purpose and one responsibility: meet the person in front of us. Professional knowledge matters. Lived experience matters. So does listening closely enough to understand what someone needs next.
This report reflects the work of 2025 through stories, results, feedback and key performance indicators. The data helps us understand progress, identify where we need to improve and make more intentional decisions about what comes next.
But people are not numbers, and their stories are real. Behind every measure is a person, a family, a struggle, a milestone and the possibility of something different.
The plan matters because people matter. What we learn only has value if we use it to strengthen the work, support people more effectively and continue growing together as one Fresh Start.
Leadership
Continuing Forward. Grounded in Who We Are
A message from Bruce Holstead, Executive Director
To our Fresh Start community,
Looking back on 2025, I think of the trust people place in us.
People come to us seeking change, support or connection. Each story differs, but our responsibility is the same: listen, be dependable and help make the next step possible.
As Fresh Start grows, we must protect who we are.
Our culture rests on relationships, personal responsibility, and the belief that people can change. It is reflected in our welcome, expectations, and support through difficulty. Growth should strengthen, not replace these values.
Across Calgary and Lethbridge, our three facilities are one Fresh Start, united in providing housing, treatment and support in recovery. Professional knowledge, lived experience and the voices of clients, families, alumni, staff and community all matter.
Achieving Exemplary Standing through Accreditation Canada across all three facilities was significant. Meeting 100% of assessed standards reflects organization-wide work to strengthen shared standards, systems, and collaboration. The achievement belongs to the whole team, as does the responsibility to maintain it.
Our 2023–2027 strategic plan guides us toward operating as one organization, delivering consistent care, and building a stronger foundation. In 2025, clearer responsibilities, better systems, and stronger connections put more of that plan into practice.
That growth is also visible in the increased support across our community: alumni are returning, families are staying connected, staff are stepping in, and volunteers, donors and partners are contributing more of their time, energy and resources.
This reflects a culture of unity, where people feel part of something larger and know their contribution matters. We should be proud of and protect this growing sense of community.
The people we serve must guide what comes next. Their feedback keeps us focused on dignity, choice, hope, and personal goals. Treatment is one part of life; recovery is built in what follows.
To everyone who makes up this Fresh Start community, thank you. To those who trusted us enough to walk through our doors, to the families who kept believing and walking alongside recovery, and to the alumni who continue to come back and remind others what is possible, you are at the heart of why we do this work. To our staff, Board, volunteers, donors and partners, thank you for the care, guidance, time, generosity and belief you continue to bring. Each of you carries a different part of Fresh Start, and together you make this community what it is.
People have always been the purpose. As Fresh Start grows, that purpose is being strengthened by new energy, emerging leaders and a community ready to carry the work forward. We are proud of how far we have come, but we are not done. We will continue to strengthen community together.
Leadership
Holding the Trust. Thoughtful in What Comes Next
A message from Craig Borgland, Board Chair
To our members, supporters and Fresh Start community,
One of the Board’s most important responsibilities is to look beyond the moment in front of us.
Fresh Start is in a strong period of development. The organization is more connected, leadership is continuing to mature, and the systems supporting the work are stronger than they were even a short time ago. That gives us confidence, but it also asks more of us.
As a Board, our role is to make sure progress is thoughtful, sustainable, and supported by good decisions. That means understanding risk, asking difficult questions when needed, and ensuring the resources entrusted to Fresh Start are used in ways that protect both today’s work and tomorrow’s opportunities.
Achieving Exemplary Standing through Accreditation Canada was an important confirmation of that progress. It reflected not only the quality of care being delivered, but the discipline, consistency, and accountability developing across the organization.
We also recognize that strong organizations are not built by systems alone. They depend on capable people, healthy leadership and a willingness to keep learning. Bruce and the leadership team continue to move Fresh Start forward with energy and purpose, supported by staff who carry a great deal of responsibility every day.
The Board’s job is to support that work without losing sight of the longer view.
Every opportunity that comes forward has to be considered carefully. Does it strengthen the organization? Can it be sustained? Does it support the mission? Does it allow Fresh Start to do its work better rather than simply do more?
Those questions matter because stewardship is ultimately about responsibility.
I am grateful to my fellow Board members for the thoughtfulness and judgement they bring to that responsibility. I am equally grateful to the leadership team, staff, supporters, funders, donors, volunteers, and partners who continue to give Fresh Start the strength to move forward.
There is real momentum here, and there is also a responsibility to use it wisely.
As we look ahead, our focus is not simply on growth. It is on making sure Fresh Start remains strong, sustainable and ready for what comes next.
One Organization. Many Pathways
A Continuum Where Recovery Becomes Daily Life
Housing
A place to land, find a rhythm, grow in confidence and begin moving forward.
Treating
Treatment asks people to take an honest look at their lives and practise a different way of living.
Supporting
Continuing support helps carry that work into relationships, employment, family life and the responsibilities of each day.
Housing, treatment and support belong together. Each can be a way into recovery, and each matters as needs change. People may move between them while they find stability and build a life that feels their own.
One organization, many paths to recovery. Across Fresh Start, treatment, Recovery-Oriented Housing, Outreach, family programming and alumni support are connected by the same purpose: meet the person in front of us and support what comes next. Our partners are part of that continuum too, creating additional pathways to treatment, housing, health, employment, community and the supports people may need along the way.
That is what a Recovery-Oriented System of Care looks like to us. It means recovery does not begin and end with one program or one organization. A person may need treatment today, housing tomorrow, help finding work later, or simply someone they trust to call when life gets difficult. The path can change, but the person should not have to start over every time their needs do.
Progress takes effort, and setbacks can happen. People need clear expectations, consistent support and others they can turn to while they keep doing the work.
That is what makes this a continuum, not a collection of separate services. It is people, treatment, programs and partnerships working together so recovery can become part of daily life.
Meeting Every Individual, Supporting for Life.
Explore the evidence | Treatment
Doing the Work of Change Together
366Enrolments
291Completions
80%Completion rate
Intensive Treatment 2025
Each completion represents real work and an important step forward.
We know everyone has a story, and recovery doesn’t always follow a straight line. Completing treatment is an important milestone, but for some people the path takes more than one attempt.
People are the point. An unfinished program does not erase the effort already made, the lessons learned or the courage it took to begin. We look beyond where a program ended to understand the person, their story and what may help them continue forward.
That is what we mean by meeting every individual, supporting for life. The path may change, but the person still matters, and their place in this community remains.
In Calgary, 152 people enrolled in our intensive treatment phase and 123 completed it, an 81% completion rate.
For a program that has been part of this community for 33 years, those numbers represent both consistency and something we have learned over time: recovery does not always follow a straight line.
The 123 completions matter. So do the other 29 people.
An unfinished program does not erase the effort made, the lessons learned or the courage it took to begin. Our Calgary program also reflects the broader recovery community around us, supporting people from across Alberta and working alongside other organizations when the best path forward may extend beyond our own walls.
That is what Meeting Every Individual, Supporting for Life looks like in Calgary. The path may change, the support may come from more than one place, but the person still matters and their place in this community remains.
Our co-ed program represents both growth and a return to Fresh Start’s roots.
Fresh Start acquired the South Country facility in November 2020, opening a new chapter while also renewing something familiar from our earliest days on Bannister Road: men and women finding recovery within the same Fresh Start community.
This year, 94 people enrolled in the intensive treatment phase and 71 completed it, a 76% completion rate.
Those numbers matter, but so does what sits behind them. Different people arrive with different histories, needs and reasons for beginning. Some complete the program as planned. Others take a different path.
The success of this program is found not only in completion, but in people reconnecting with themselves, rebuilding relationships and discovering that recovery can begin again.
That is Meeting Every Individual, Supporting for Life in our co-ed program: honouring where we came from while continuing to grow into what the people we serve need today.
The Lethbridge Recovery Community opened in September 2023 through the tremendous support of the Government of Alberta and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction.
Still early in its story, it represents an important part of Alberta’s broader vision for recovery: increasing access to treatment while building a continuum of care that supports people beyond a single intervention or moment in time.
This year, 120 people enrolled in the intensive treatment phase and 97 completed it, an 81% completion rate.
We are proud of those results, but equally proud of what continues to grow around them: relationships, trust, connection and a stronger recovery community being built alongside the people and organizations of southern Alberta. Every person who enters brings a different story. Some complete treatment as planned. Others need more time, another attempt or a different kind of support. What remains constant is the belief that recovery is possible and that people deserve meaningful opportunities to pursue it.
That is Meeting Every Individual, Supporting for Life at the Lethbridge Recovery Community: providing treatment today while continuing to build the community and pathways that help make long-term recovery possible.
| Facility | Enrolments | Completions | Non-completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| All facilities | 366 | 291 | 75 |
| Calgary Facility | 152 | 123 | 29 |
| Lethbridge Facility – Co-ed | 94 | 71 | 23 |
| Lethbridge Recovery Community | 120 | 97 | 23 |
Access to Treatment
More People Reaching Toward Help
370 morewaitlist additions
15% increasefrom 2024
As awareness of recovery continues to grow, so does the number of people reaching out for help.
Strong leadership and investment from the Government of Alberta has helped bring recovery more clearly into public conversation, expand access to treatment and reinforce an important message: recovery is possible.
At Fresh Start, we see the impact of that growing awareness every day. More individuals and families are calling, asking questions, seeking direction and beginning to understand that treatment can be the start of a much larger recovery journey. Some reach us earlier. Others come after years of struggle, multiple attempts or simply not knowing where to turn.
For more than three decades, Fresh Start has worked to be more than a treatment provider. We have worked to be a place people can return to, a community families can lean on, and a partner willing to work alongside government and other organizations when that creates a stronger path forward.
The combination of greater public awareness, reduced stigma, increased provincial investment and strong community partnerships is creating more opportunities for people to find help.
For us, that growth is not simply about more people knowing the Fresh Start name. It is about more people knowing there is a door open, a community ready to support them and a path forward when they are ready to walk through it.
Explore the evidence | Recovery-oriented housing
A Place to Keep Moving Forward
114Recovery-oriented housing beds
After treatment, life keeps moving. People need a place to land, where relationships can be renewed, new ones can form, and opportunities to work, learn and contribute can take shape. Recovery-Oriented Housing gives people room to find a rhythm, build confidence and carry recovery into daily life with continued support around them.
At December 31, 2025, Fresh Start had 114 recovery-oriented housing beds across Calgary and Lethbridge. Partnerships with the Government of Alberta, Calgary Homeless Foundation and Lethbridge Housing Authority helped make housing and continued support available after treatment.
We are grateful for these partnerships and proud of what they make possible. To us, this is what authentic Recovery-Oriented Housing looks like: not simply providing a place to stay, but creating the conditions where people can practise recovery, take on responsibility, reconnect with community and keep moving forward in their lives.
Outreach continued alongside housing, helping people manage everyday responsibilities, stay connected and find the right support as their circumstances changed. Together, housing, Outreach and strong community partnerships help extend recovery beyond treatment and into the life someone is working to build.
When the Next Step Is Hard to See
People arrived with different places to stay, different levels of stability and different needs for what came next. For some, the path forward was clear. For others, options were limited and the next step was difficult to see.
That uncertainty is exactly why the assessment matters. It helps us understand not only where someone is today, but what stability, support and housing they may need to move forward. In that sense, housing and continued support are not separate pieces. They belong together.
A place to live can create stability, but connection, guidance and opportunity help turn that stability into something lasting.
Prior to Treatment
71%71% of people entering treatment were living with family or friends, in a shelter or unhoused.
- Unhoused: 144 (39%)
- Shelter: 22 (6%)
- With family or friends: 96 (26%)
- Own home or renting: 106 (29%)
Intake Assessment
80%294 people requested recovery-oriented housing, were seeking safe housing or did not yet have a plan after treatment.
- Returning to same home: 74 (20%)
- Requesting recovery-oriented housing: 93 (25%)
- Seeking safe housing possibilities: 104 (28%)
- No plan: 97 (26%)
Housing Affected by Substance Use
75%275 of 369 said substance use had affected their housing.
Homelessness and Housing Risk
Pierre • Housing, recovery and community
From Stable Housing to a Life of Purpose
When Pierre completed treatment in 2024, recovery-oriented housing gave him somewhere to build on the work he had begun. At Edmonton Trail, he had an affordable home, neighbours in recovery and Outreach support nearby. He found work and began paying his own way.
There were challenges. When Pierre could not make a rent payment on time, Fresh Start worked out an arrangement with him.
“That compassion did not remove my responsibility, but it gave me the opportunity to meet it without losing the stability I had worked so hard to build.”
Pierre remained responsible for the payment. The arrangement helped him keep the home and routines he had worked to establish.
In 2025, Pierre volunteered at Fresh Start events, supported people in treatment, took part in the Alumni Association and held service commitments in his 12-step fellowship. He celebrated his one-year milestone with a community he was already helping to build.
With a stable home and continued support, Pierre built a contracting company one job and one relationship at a time. As it grew, he created opportunities for other people in recovery.
Today, Pierre employs five Fresh Start alumni.
Those jobs offer income, skills and the chance to contribute. The people working with Pierre bring their own strengths to the job while continuing to build lives of their own.
Even as the demands of his business grew, Pierre kept making time for Fresh Start and for people beginning their own recovery. His work and service carry forward the support he once received.
Explore the evidence | Family and Friends Healing Initiative
Helping Families Move Forward Together
Families come to Fresh Start carrying their own questions, worries and hopes for what might change. The Family Program creates space to better understand addiction, strengthen communication, rebuild trust and begin changing patterns that may have developed over years.
In 2025, the program recorded 46 completions from 47 enrolments (98%), with 56 scheduled sessions through seven eight-session cycles.
The impact reaches well beyond the sessions themselves. Families begin to understand where support ends and responsibility begins, how to communicate differently, and how to care for themselves while still caring about the person they love. As those changes take hold, recovery becomes something the whole family can understand and participate in.
That is the deeper value of the program: not simply helping families cope with addiction, but helping them rebuild connection, confidence and a healthier way forward together.
Room for Families to Move Forward
Family and Friends Healing Initiative
46 completions from 47 enrolments (98%). Seven eight-session cycles comprised 56 scheduled sessions.
What Families Were Asking For When They Reached Out
- 63%
- wanted help moving forward
- 40%
- wanted help addressing fear
- 31%
- wanted help addressing enabling
What Families Took Away
- 100%
- strongly agreed the program was worthwhile
- 90%
- identified learning ways to explore their emotions and respond differently
- 90%
- identified a better understanding of enabling versus supporting
A family member’s own voice
Finding Steadier Ground, Together
Family recovery | Raylene
Raylene spent years caring for the people she loved while leaving little room for herself. When her husband entered treatment at Fresh Start, she learned that support was available for her, too.
The family program gave Raylene a place to be heard, learn and begin looking after her own healing. Through grief and other difficult times, the community stayed with her. She did not have to carry everything alone.
Through the program, now called the Family and Friends Healing Initiative, Raylene came to understand addiction differently. She learned that she had not caused it and could not control or cure it. She found words for what she had lived through and people who understood.
Boundaries, healthier communication and attention to her own needs became tools she could use. When life became difficult, Raylene returned to what she had learned and to the people around her. That support helped her stay grounded and care for herself while still caring about her family.
That support continues every Thursday when Family Alumni meet in person and online. Raylene keeps attending because the meetings help her stay grounded and connected. The program sessions ended. The learning and the relationships did not.
Throughout 2025, Raylene gave extra time to help make room for others to find the same support. When the family program paused to update its materials, Family Alumni kept meeting and prepared to welcome more families.
Raylene’s story is about support through difficult times, a healthier relationship with herself and the decision to give back. The community made room for her. Now she helps make room for others.
“The Alumni meetings always give me strength to live with the disease of addiction, with others who understand and who care about each other’s well-being.”
Raylene, Family Alumni
The Relationships Recovery Makes Possible
“This group has felt like a home to me. I have searched for a space like this my entire life, a place where I feel heard, where my voice is recognized, and where every person brings something meaningful to the table.”
Meigan, Family Alumni
“Every Thursday, I breathe a sigh of relief, there is a place to go – a place where people listen, support and share their experiences so I can learn and grow!”
Kate, Family Alumni
A Place to Reconnect and Keep Growing
Treatment alumni can reconnect with family, while loved ones continue finding support for their own healing. These experiences are connected, each offering a way to stay close to recovery, relationships and community.
“I now have a relationship with my whole family. I support my parents weekly with appointments as they are in their 80’s. My Brother and Sister have moved into the same community as me and I see my children and grandchildren every weekend. I became very estranged from my family while in active addiction and now I cannot imagine my life without these relationships.”
Treatment alumnus celebrating a two-year milestone, shared through Outreach
Explore the evidence | Alumni
Coming Back Keeps Us Connected
2,151Years of continuous recovery celebrated in 2025
98%
of alumni respondents reported attending 12-step meetings at least monthly
94%
of alumni respondents reported attending at least one Fresh Start Recovery alumni meeting per month
Completing treatment does not mean doing the rest alone. Alumni remain part of Fresh Start through meetings, celebrations, friendships and service. There is a place to come back, share what is happening and sit with people who understand the work of recovery because they have lived it too.
A milestone belongs to the person who has worked for it, but it is rarely carried alone. Family members, friends, peers and staff have often stood beside them along the way. At Gratitude, someone newer to recovery can see what is possible. A returning alumnus can remember where they began, recognize how far they have come and acknowledge the people who helped make that journey possible.
In 2025, those celebrations recognized 2,151 years of recovery. Behind that number are ordinary days of keeping commitments, asking for help, taking responsibility and continuing when life gets difficult.
Alumni also help build something larger than their own connection to Fresh Start. Through service, events, meetings and relationships, they welcome others into recovery, including people whose path may have started somewhere else. That willingness to connect across different experiences and pathways strengthens the broader recovery community and reminds us that recovery does not belong to one program or one organization.
Staying connected, being useful and making room for the next person are part of how recovery community grows. Each person who returns, reaches out or welcomes someone new helps make that community stronger for everyone.
Reliable Support, Shared Accountability
96%of respondents
Had People They Could Rely On
85%of respondents
Described Family Relationships as Strong or Improving
69%of respondents
Reported Full-time or Part-time Employment
Teri – Alumni
The Strength to Keep Going
Teri knew she wanted a different life. After leaving treatment in 2024, she recognized that returning to her old surroundings could put her recovery at risk. She reached back out to Fresh Start and asked for help finding housing.
Within days, she moved into Centre Street recovery-oriented housing with two women she already knew. It was an opportunity to keep building on the work she had begun in treatment.
Change took practice. Teri learned to speak up for herself, hold boundaries and ask for what she needed. Her confidence did not come all at once, but she kept showing up.
Over time, she became more comfortable asking for advice, more confident in her boundaries and more open to the people around her. Fresh Start and the alumni community stayed beside her as she moved forward.
Volunteering became something she wanted to do. Today, Teri volunteers every Tuesday at the food bank with the Fresh Start group. She enjoys contributing, having conversations and being part of a community where people support one another.
She now lives in her own bachelor apartment at Fresh Start’s Edmonton Trail recovery-oriented housing. That independence is another meaningful step in a recovery she continues working on every day.
One of the changes Teri values most is the healthier relationship she has developed with herself. It has helped her build healthier friendships and recognize what she has to offer.
Teri’s perseverance shows in the choices she keeps making: ask for help, stay connected, hold her boundaries and give her time. The life she wanted is being built in those everyday decisions.
Nine Areas of Focus.
One Shared Purpose
Our strategic plan identifies nine areas that have guided our priorities and kept us moving forward with intention in the years leading up to 2025. The sections that follow reflect the hard work invested, the progress achieved, what the results are teaching us and where small degrees of adjustment can help guide the next steps in our journey. As we prepare for our next strategic plan, these lessons, accomplishments and emerging opportunities will help shape the next chapter of Fresh Start’s continued development.
Organizational Alignment and Accountability
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
One Fresh Start. One Vision. Moving Forward Together
We did a lot of work behind the scenes to bring Fresh Start closer together as one organization.
We flattened parts of the structure, clarified responsibilities and redefined roles so people had a better understanding of where they fit, what they were accountable for and how their work connected to others. That accountability reaches beyond a job description. It is to the organization, to one another and, most importantly, to the people and families we serve.
At the same time, we created new ways for people to be heard. Structured department and leadership meetings, clearer communication pathways and shared records gave staff closer to the work more opportunity to raise concerns, share ideas and bring forward what they were seeing. New strategies and processes helped move those voices into leadership discussions, connect them across departments and support clearer decisions and follow-through.
Flattening the organization also created room for emerging leaders to step forward. People were given more opportunity to take ownership, contribute ideas and grow into greater responsibility. Leadership became something shared more broadly, rather than something held too tightly at the top.
None of this work was about creating more meetings, more documents or more process. It was about helping Operations, Programming, Counselling, Maintenance, Outreach, Finance and HR, Fund Development and Communications work with greater connection, consistency and trust.
The result was a Fresh Start that became more aligned, more accountable and more connected, while creating more space for people at every level to contribute, lead and grow.
One organization | 2025
Clear Expectations, Shared Responsibility
Clarity and Teamwork in Practice
97%
of staff understood what was expected in their job
96%
of staff said units worked well together to provide the best care and services
90%
of staff said shift transitions allowed enough time to exchange care and service information
88%
of staff said communication was open and honest
Clear Expectations, Shared Accountability
Clear expectations are built through regular conversation, shared understanding and follow-through.
Across Fresh Start, teams bring service and operational issues forward through their managers and directors, while leadership meets regularly to connect information, work through challenges and carry decisions across the organization. That shared understanding helps keep people connected across departments and locations.
Accountability becomes real when people know what they are responsible for, follow through on commitments, raise concerns before they become larger problems and are willing to own both good decisions and mistakes. Regular conversations create the space to do that while also supporting learning, development and stronger working relationships.
For us, communication is not simply about passing information along. It is about staying connected enough to act consistently, take responsibility and move forward as one organization.
Data Collection and Sharing
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
From Data to Understanding
Fresh Start is strengthening how we collect and interpret data across our programs, while never losing sight of the people behind it.
By looking at patterns alongside lived experience, we can better understand where people are doing well, where they are getting stuck and where additional support may make a difference. That helps us make stronger decisions about resources, programming and when a different response is needed.
The goal is simple: use better information to make better decisions, while remembering that every number represents a person, a family and a life still moving forward.
Data and learning | 2025
Many Areas of Change, One Strong Outcome
Information We Can Trust, Handled with Care
We removed client identifiers from FYI database information prepared for reporting. We reviewed questions across years so comparable answers could be brought together, then checked the results against source records. This care lets us learn where support may need attention while protecting the people who trusted us with their information. Power BI reporting remained work ahead.
Stakeholder Engagement
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
A Circle of Trust. Built Through Experience
Our communication with the community became more consistent, more visible and more connected to the organization we were becoming. As Fresh Start grew, so did the responsibility to make sure people understood not only what we do, but who we are, what we stand for and how the different parts of the organization connect.
Growth also meant making room for tomorrow’s leaders. A growing group of emerging leaders stepped forward through events, partnerships, outreach, public conversations and everyday relationships. Bringing new voices into that space was intentional. It gave people the opportunity to grow into responsibility, represent Fresh Start with confidence and help shape how the organization will be carried forward.
That broader leadership presence helped strengthen relationships with donors, partners, families, alumni and the wider community. People were not simply hearing one voice or seeing one face. They were meeting a team, seeing greater unity and experiencing a clearer sense of shared purpose.
That trust was also visible in the way people gave their time. Familiar faces such as Al and Dorothy, Dave and Ida, along with many alumni, clients, families, staff and neighbours, continued to show up across Calgary and Lethbridge. They helped at barbecues, the motorcycle ride, Christmas open houses, community cleanups and countless moments in between. Some took visible roles. Others prepared food, moved tables, donated supplies or simply stayed a little longer when help was needed.
People like Janelle, who donated baskets for community events, and many others who shared practical skills, supplies or time, helped make room for people to gather and belong. That matters because engagement is not only about attending an event. It is about people choosing to take part, contribute and help create the kind of community they want to be part of.
There is something powerful in that movement from receiving support to offering it. Someone comes to Fresh Start needing help, and later becomes the person welcoming someone else. There is dignity in being needed and meaning in knowing your contribution matters.
That is how trust grows across all of our stakeholders. Donors, volunteers, partners, families, alumni, staff and community members see that Fresh Start is not simply asking people to support an organization. We are inviting them to become part of something shared.
That is where Gratitude-Generosity-Community become more than words. Gratitude keeps us connected to what has been made possible. Generosity creates room for others to contribute. Community grows when people are welcomed in, trusted with responsibility and given a place to help carry the work forward.
Support grows through relationships. In 2025, Fresh Start began implementing DonorPerfect, with onboarding and training supporting better donor records, acknowledgements and follow-up. The transition continued into 2026.
The Borgland family’s commitment to Fresh Start reaches back many years. During giving season, they strengthened that support with a matching gift that encouraged others to take part as we moved into 2026.
For Hugh and Laureen Borgland, that spirit has deep roots. Hugh remembers his mother, a single parent working as a hospital ward clerk, giving regularly even when money was scarce. He and Laureen have carried that example into their own family, encouraging their children to contribute their time and, later, financial support. As Hugh puts it: “One act can create momentum.”
Hugh and Laureen shared why they give publicly: to encourage someone else to act.
Grover Law sponsored the motorcycle for the 2025 raffle. The raffle raised more than any previous Fresh Start motorcycle raffle. The 12 Stop Charity Ride for Recovery gave people another way to take part and support recovery.
Stakeholder engagement | 2025
The Circle Continues
People Made the Work Possible
The figures below describe the fiscal year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. They show the support behind care, housing, staff learning and practical improvements.
Funding sources | Year ended March 31, 2026
Many Sources. One Shared Purpose
Individual donors provided the largest share of fund development revenue, with gaming, foundations, public grants, corporate support, events and in-kind contributions adding strength and balance.
$1,580,840total fund development
- Corporate3.6%$57,105.54
- Events0.5%$7,528.00
- Foundations / charities10.0%$158,748.00
- Gaming31.6%$499,270.08
- Government grants1.7%$27,278.36
- Individual donors48.0%$759,005.77
- In-kind4.5%$71,904.43
What Support Helped Make Possible
Better spaces for learningAudiovisual equipment for shared learning and gatherings.Kinsmen Club of Calgary, Government of Alberta Community Initiatives Program and the Poelzer Family Foundation Fund at Calgary Foundation.
A more welcoming front officeRenovations at the Lethbridge front office.Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.
A home after treatmentContinued support for Bridgeland recovery-oriented housing.Canadian Natural helped sustain recovery-oriented housing in Bridgeland.
Participation Grew
515active donorsUp 25% from 412
843gifts receivedUp 46% from 577
62gave two or more timesUp 44% from 43
New and Renewed Relationships
303new donorsUp 79% from 169
68reactivated donorsUp 55% from 44
144retained donors35% retention rate
More people chose to support Fresh Start. Each deserves to hear what their gift helped make possible.
Consistent Service Quality and Program Accessibility
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Consistent in Quality. Personal in Practice
In 2025, we continued strengthening care by listening closely to the people experiencing it, the staff delivering it and the partners helping people find their way to us. What we heard mattered. It helped us recognize where care felt consistent, where barriers still existed and where we needed to adjust.
This work was deeply important and sat at the core of our accreditation journey across all three locations. Accreditation required us to look closely at how care was experienced in practice, not just how it was described in policy. It pushed us to strengthen shared standards, clarify expectations, improve documentation, align program materials and look more carefully at how people were welcomed, informed, supported and included in decisions. It asked us to make sure people experienced the same respect, clarity and care wherever they met us.
Updated assessments, program materials and shared approaches gave us a stronger common foundation, but the goal was never to make every person’s experience look the same. The goal was to ensure people could expect the same level of respect, attention and support while still being seen as individuals.
Accessibility became part of that same conversation. It meant more than being available. It meant helping people reach treatment, advocating when systems or circumstances got in the way, strengthening relationships with referral and community partners, and making sure people were not left to find the next step alone.
House meetings, treatment feedback and everyday conversations helped keep that work grounded. They reminded us that quality is not only something we measure. It is something people feel in how they are welcomed, heard and supported.
The progress of 2025 came from recognizing where we had been, listening to what was being said and continuing to shape care around what people need now.
Consistent in quality and personal in practice describes both the progress made and the responsibility to keep listening and improving.
Service quality | 2025
What People Are Telling Us
Support That Follows the Person
427clients received Outreach services
79%of alumni reported current or past use of community support services
050100%
47%of alumni reported current participation in professional mental health or counselling services at 12 months
050100%
What Listening Requires
Outcomes matter. They tell us whether the work is doing what we say it does, and they are part of how others measure us, trust us and hold us accountable. But a number can only tell you so much. The people we serve can tell us what that experience actually felt like. We need both. We need to know what is working, where we missed the mark and what we are prepared to do differently because of it.
Listening to How Families Learn
97%of people who answered the learning-preference question told us they learn best through conversation, hearing how others see things and having the chance to share their own experience.
It is a strong reminder that learning in recovery is not only about receiving information. It is also about connection, reflection and discovering something through one another.
Support Beyond the Treatment Group
95%of respondents at their nine-month review agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the care and support they were receiving.
Support still matters long after the treatment group ends. Staying connected, knowing where to turn and having people continue to walk alongside you can make recovery feel less like something completed and more like something carried forward.
Policy Management and Regulatory Compliance
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Standards People Can Depend On
Fresh Start achieved Exemplary Standing in 2025 through Accreditation Canada across all three facilities, meeting 100% of the requirements assessed. That achievement reflected years of work across the organization, but it also brought a clear responsibility: the standard has to live beyond accreditation.
For us, quality is not simply found in policies, audits or reporting. It is found in whether people experience consistency, dignity, clarity and care wherever they meet Fresh Start. Accreditation helped us look closely at the connection between those things and the systems that support them.
Throughout the year, staff reviewed policies, manuals, training, documentation and shared standards of practice. Nothing was treated as untouchable simply because it had been done a certain way before. Roles were clarified, expectations were strengthened and staff were asked to understand and acknowledge the policies that guide their work.
Governance and oversight strengthened alongside that work. Quality, safety and risk became more intentionally connected to leadership and Board discussions, allowing decisions to be informed by performance, financial stewardship, regulatory requirements and what we were learning from the people closest to the work. Regular reporting created clearer lines between what was happening in daily practice and the responsibilities held at the governance table.
That same thinking led to stronger planning for continuity. A formal Executive Director succession plan was approved and in effect by the end of 2025, helping ensure that leadership change, whenever it comes, does not mean losing organizational knowledge, accountability or purpose.
At the centre of all of this remained people-centred care. Accreditation recognized that Fresh Start had embedded dignity, collaboration, choice and lived experience across governance, leadership, program design and service delivery. Clients and families are not simply recipients of care. Their experiences help shape it. Staff voices matter. Alumni and peers contribute lived knowledge. Community partners help extend the pathways beyond treatment.
We also recognize where the next steps are. More formal internal auditing, compliance training and stronger structures for client and family participation will continue to develop. Accreditation did not tell us the work was finished. It confirmed the strength of what had been built and helped identify where continued attention could make it stronger.
Standards people can depend on are not about creating more process. They are about making sure the values we speak about are reflected in how we govern, how we lead, how we work and, ultimately, how people experience Fresh Start.
Standards and accountability | 2025
Something to Be Proud of. Something to Live up To
96%
of staff agreed that Fresh Start is committed to providing a healthy and safe workplace.
99%
2025 Global Workforce Surveyof staff agreed that Fresh Start treats clients with respect and dignity.
Community Impact and Strategic Opportunities
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Where Partnership Turns Possibility into Reality
Recovery does not happen apart from community. It grows through connection, participation and having somewhere to belong.
In 2025, clients, alumni, families, staff, volunteers and neighbours continued to show up together across Calgary and Lethbridge. Community gatherings, service opportunities, celebrations and events created places for people to connect beyond treatment. The Stampede barbecue was one visible example of people wanting to take part and recovery becoming part of community life.
Partnerships extend that community in practical ways. They help people reach treatment, find housing, access food and other supports, build relationships and stay connected as their circumstances change. We do not need to provide every answer ourselves. We do need to know who we can work beside to help someone find the next one.
More Room for Recovery
Housing remained one of the clearest examples of what partnership can make possible.
For years, the Lethbridge Housing Authority has helped people connected to Fresh Start find housing after treatment. In 2025, that relationship grew to include recovery-oriented housing managed by Fresh Start. It was a natural extension of a longstanding relationship and created more opportunity for people to carry recovery into daily life with support still around them.
In Calgary, the Calgary Homeless Foundation continued its support of the Bridgeland building. Throughout the year, our Operations and Outreach leaders worked with CHF to strengthen coordination and explore what the next stage of that partnership could look like. Keeping housing and Outreach connected mattered because a home is more than an address. It is where routines are practised, relationships are renewed and the work of recovery meets everyday life.
Investment from the Government of Alberta has also helped expand the housing continuum and strengthen the connection between treatment, recovery-oriented housing and continued support. Together, these relationships are allowing us to think beyond individual programs and toward a more connected pathway through recovery.
The value of these partnerships is not measured only in buildings, beds or agreements. It is measured in what those things make possible for people: somewhere to land, someone to call, another connection and a stronger opportunity to keep moving forward.
As we look ahead, the opportunity is to keep strengthening those connections. Government, housing providers, funders, community organizations, recovery partners and Fresh Start each bring something different. When those pieces work together, people have more pathways into treatment, more support after it and a stronger recovery community around them.
Community impact | 2025
A Year of Connection, Service and Partnership
5,000+Estimated Attendances at Fresh Start Events and Community Activities
130Volunteers at the 12 Stop Charity Ride for Recovery
2025 Stampede Spirit RecognitionFresh Start’s Stampede barbecue was recognized for the community it brought together.
People Taking Part
Throughout the year, clients, alumni, families, staff, housing residents, volunteers and neighbours took part in gatherings and helped with the practical work behind them. The 12 Stop Charity Ride for Recovery was one example. Community members met the people who live and work at Fresh Start, shared meals and worked alongside them. Those encounters made room to see recovery as part of everyday community life. Many people gave their time at other events too; we did not formally count all annual volunteer involvement.
Partnerships That Made Room for People
Food banks in both cities supported people rebuilding daily life. Maskanawah Community Services, Project GROWTH with the University of Calgary’s Addictive Behaviors Lab, and LifeLab YYC through The Integrated Man Project brought service and research relationships into the work.
Aventa, Last Door Recovery Society, the Blood Tribe Department of Health and Lethbridge Housing Authority joined the 2025 Community Perspectives conversations. Purses of Hope brought gifts for women in care, and Home Depot volunteers helped improve shared spaces. Grover Law, Calgary Harley-Davidson and Cochrane Toyota helped bring people together around the motorcycle raffle and the 12 Stop Charity Ride for Recovery. Teamsters supported Fresh Start through their 2025 golf tournament.
Grover Law sponsored the motorcycle for the 2025 raffle. Rotary Partners of Calgary at Stampede Park and Hilton Stone Distribution supported a new kitchen oven. The Kinsmen Club of Calgary, the Government of Alberta Community Initiatives Program and the Poelzer Family Foundation Fund at Calgary Foundation supported audiovisual improvements. The Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta supported the co-ed front office, and Canadian Natural supported Bridgeland housing.
Fresh Start also spent time with Foothills Detox staff in December. Many others helped through the year. We are grateful for the people named here and those who gave quietly behind the scenes.
What Became Possible
The new oven improved meals served at the Calgary Facility and expanded the kitchen’s ability to prepare food for the Highland Park Seniors’ Association luncheon. Renovated rooms in Calgary gave clients more space to meet and take part in group work. Through Lethbridge Housing Authority, eight recovery-oriented housing beds formed part of Fresh Start’s 114 managed housing beds, giving people another place to continue after treatment.
Audiovisual upgrades helped people connect through the family program in person and remotely. They also helped directors meet across Calgary and Lethbridge. In Lethbridge, the front office renovation began near the end of 2025, with completion planned for 2026. The work is intended to create a more useful and welcoming first point of contact.
Expanded Talent and Compensation Strategy
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Supporting the People Who Carry the Work
Our Strategic Plan recognizes something simple: good care depends on good people. If we want people to bring their best to this work, they need to feel valued, supported and able to see a future within Fresh Start.
That is the thinking behind our Expanded Talent and Compensation Strategy. It is about attracting the right people, keeping the experience already here and making compensation clearer and more consistent.
In 2025, we took a significant step by creating a structured pay matrix. The goal was greater fairness and transparency across roles, with a clearer connection between experience, responsibility, performance, development and advancement. People should be able to understand where they are, what is expected and how growth can lead somewhere.
The pay matrix helped us consider fairness across roles and recognize different kinds of contribution.
We also worked to make advancement clearer, both vertically and laterally. Growth can mean new responsibility, a specialty, another role or a better use of someone’s strengths. Mentorship and career paths are part of the work ahead.
Professional development continued alongside that work. Requirements for addiction-counselling certification were introduced and supported, while Recovery Coaching expanded the skills available to Client Support Workers. Staff were also supported in obtaining Peer Support Worker credentials through CACCF, creating new opportunities for lived experience to be strengthened by formal training and carried into Outreach and continued support. In 2025, three Outreach Peer Support Workers joined the team, extending connection beyond treatment.
Role-specific performance reviews added another important piece. They created a place for honest conversations about expectations, accountability, strengths, development and what someone may need to take their next step. Together, the pay matrix, professional learning and performance reviews began connecting contribution, growth, recognition and opportunity in a more meaningful way.
This work is still developing. A talent and compensation strategy is not one raise, one training opportunity or one new matrix. It is about creating a workplace where people can understand the path in front of them, feel that their contribution is recognized and know there are real opportunities to move up, across and forward.
For people and families seeking help, supporting the staff who carry this work strengthens the care and relationships they rely on.
Sources: Fresh Start Recovery Strategic Business Plan 2023–2027; Boland Survey 2024, Alberta Region; Accreditation Canada Report 2025.
The People and Practices Behind the Work
129
employees at year-end
Every program, partnership and point of support begins with people.
Across Fresh Start, our team brought together lived experience, professional knowledge, operational skill and a shared commitment to the people we serve. From direct care to leadership, administration, maintenance, Outreach, fundraising and communications, each role contributed to the larger work.
We are grateful for the people who show up each day, often in demanding circumstances, and continue to bring care, patience, humour, experience and commitment to the work.
The strength of the organization is not only in how many people work here, but in how they support one another, keep learning and carry responsibility together.
People and learning | 2025
Learning and Being Heard
2025 Global Workforce Survey
What Staff Are Telling Us
How people experience their work, their team and the support around them.
Seventy of 90 employees took part in the January 2025 Global Workforce Survey, a 78% response rate. Their answers offer a broad view of working at Fresh Start.
The results reflected strong connections across teams, satisfaction in the work and room to be themselves. They also pointed to work still ahead around time, autonomy and access to training.
The value of the survey is in listening carefully, responding clearly and turning feedback into visible action where change is needed.
Expectations Backed by Support
| Learning / Requirement | Qualification | Personal and Organizational Value |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy and Information Security | All staff are required to complete training in NWT Privacy, POPA, HIA and AHS IT & Security Awareness. | Protecting information is part of protecting people. This strengthens individual responsibility, sound judgment and the trust placed in Fresh Start every day. |
| Brain Story Certification | All staff are required to complete Brain Story Certification through the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative. | A shared understanding of brain development, mental health and addiction helps staff connect knowledge with empathy and the realities of recovery. |
| First Aid Training | Staff are required to maintain appropriate First Aid certification based on their role and responsibilities. | Being prepared matters. First Aid training builds confidence, readiness and the ability to respond safely when someone needs immediate support. |
| Vulnerable Persons Screening | Staff are required to complete appropriate vulnerable sector screening. | Creating safe environments begins with taking responsibility seriously and protecting the people who place their trust in us. |
| Specialized Role-Based Training | Additional training, including conflict resolution, Mental Health First Aid, SPRAM, Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Training, and other specialized learning, is supported where appropriate to the role. | Different responsibilities require different skills. Role-based learning strengthens boundaries, awareness, confidence and consistency in the situations staff are most likely to encounter. |
Financial Sustainability and Accountability
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Sustain the Care People Count On
Financial sustainability is really about one thing: making sure the housing, treatment and ongoing support people rely on are still here when they need them.
That means taking care of today’s costs while planning ahead. Our Strategic Plan calls for stronger forecasting, regular review of expenses and continued work to diversify funding so Fresh Start can remain stable and responsive.
For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, Fresh Start reported $1,263,035 in program expenses and $312,792 in repairs and maintenance, along with salaries, utilities and the many other costs involved in keeping our facilities and services operating.
Food and service costs continued to put pressure on the daily work of care. Operating revenue rose and total operating expenses stayed nearly level with the previous year, but some of the costs closest to care increased. A favourable result for one year does not replace planning for the next.
The survey team also recognized regular financial reporting, independent audits and Board oversight.
Another important part of the picture is understanding that what Fresh Start owns is not the same as money available to spend. Much of our net assets are tied to buildings, equipment and other resources that support care over many years.
In 2025, we also began looking more closely at asset life, capital needs and contingency planning. That means asking what will need to be repaired or replaced in the years ahead and planning for those costs before they become urgent.
That is what Sustain the Care People Count On means to us. It is not about holding money for the sake of it. It is about protecting the work, planning responsibly and making sure Fresh Start can continue to be here for the people and families who count on us.
The financial statements cover April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, while the program results in this report are presented on a calendar-2025 basis.
Sources: Fresh Start Recovery Strategic Business Plan 2023–2027; audited statements for the year ended March 31, 2026; Accreditation Canada Report 2025. The program results elsewhere in this report cover calendar 2025.
Financial results | Year ended March 31, 2026
Stewardship You Can Explore
Audited statements • April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 • Canadian dollars
Internal and External Communications
All nine areas ↑Putting the plan into practice
Clear Information. A Shared Understanding
Good communication helps people understand the work, find what they need and know how they can take part. In 2025, we strengthened communication both inside Fresh Start and across the communities we serve.
Internally, that meant making information easier to find and easier to trust. Shared files and communication channels were reorganized, older materials were reviewed, and information was arranged more clearly around the teams using it. Original documents were separated from working copies, helping staff locate current information and carry decisions back to their teams with greater consistency.
We also strengthened the way meetings, decisions and follow-up were documented. The goal was not more technology or more process. It was clearer records, better follow-through and less chance that important information would be lost between conversations.
The survey team also recognized the communication channels connecting staff, leadership and interdisciplinary teams.
Just as important was how we talked with one another. Communication cannot only be about sending information. It has to leave room for listening, questions and different perspectives.
That shared understanding also shaped how we presented Fresh Start outside the organization. Work with the Board, leadership and our strategic planning consultant helped clarify our purpose, mission, vision and values, while strengthening the way we speak about Fresh Start as one organization across Calgary and Lethbridge, with housing, treatment and support connected throughout.
We carried that consistency into our website, online listings and other public information. Facility names became clearer and more consistent, and information about the Lethbridge Recovery Community gave people a better understanding of the program, its place within the Alberta Recovery Model and how to begin seeking help. For someone considering treatment, or a family trying to understand what comes next, clear information can be an important first step.
Externally, Accreditation Canada found the same commitment to communication in Fresh Start’s relationships with partners and stakeholders, noting that program updates, quality improvement work and organizational achievements were being shared in ways that support learning and community engagement.
Together Without End gave our external communications a more intentional direction across the year. Rather than approaching each story, event, milestone or campaign as a separate moment, we connected them through a shared communications strategy that created continuity from one season to the next.
The approach helped us plan what we wanted to say, when we wanted to say it and how each message connected back to the larger Fresh Start story. Treatment, housing, Outreach, alumni, family support, fundraising and community engagement were not presented as isolated pieces. They were part of one ongoing narrative about recovery, connection and what happens beyond the first request for help.
That continuity also gave us more discipline. Communications became less reactive and more purposeful, with stories, events, Gratitude invitations and campaign activity placed within a broader annual direction. The intention was not simply to increase visibility, but to help people understand Fresh Start more clearly over time and see how the different parts of the organization connect.
Communication is also becoming more accountable. We can see where people encounter Fresh Start through our different channels, but reach alone does not tell us enough. The next step is understanding more clearly how communication leads to enquiries, treatment access, participation, partnership and support.
Accreditation Canada identified better access to public performance information as work still ahead. We will keep improving how people find help and how we understand what happens after they encounter Fresh Start.
Source: Accreditation Canada Report 2025. Website, social, email and publication figures measure channel activity, not confirmed enquiries or participation.
Communications | 2025
Keeping the Conversation Going
28,594Active website users
170,682Tracked events
A Place to Find the Next Step
For some, the next step was learning about treatment or admissions. For others, it was finding an event, reconnecting with community or looking for a way to help. Our website helped make those next steps easier to find.
All Communication Channels • 2025
| Channel | Reported activity |
|---|---|
| Website | 28,594 active users; 170,682 tracked events |
| Social | 4,099,453 views; 41,500 interactions; 27,800 link clicks |
| 39% average open rate; 4,556 total clicks | |
| Publications | 19,000+ visits; 7,300+ views of the 2024 annual report during 2025 |
Activity counts include repeat use. They do not measure confirmed enquiries, attendance, volunteering or gifts.
A Clear Place to Begin
In our desire for greater transparency and shared support, we continued improving clarity across our platforms so people and families can better understand who we are, what we offer and how to reach us.
As part of our 2025 website updates, the Lethbridge Recovery Community received a dedicated page, not to separate it from Fresh Start, but to recognize the Government of Alberta’s significant investment in recovery and the role this partnership plays in expanding access, building awareness and strengthening recovery-oriented services across the province.
For Fresh Start, impact begins before someone enters a program. Clear, consistent information across our website, social media and other communication channels helps people understand their options, reduces uncertainty and makes that first connection easier.
Sometimes the first step toward recovery is simply knowing where to begin.
Visit the program webpage
Making Room for People’s Voices
Knowing Their Choices and Rights
73%
of respondents understood their right to see their treatment records
81%
of respondents understood they could change their counsellor or case manager
92%
of respondents indicated staff did not use threats, bribes or pressure
Recovery, celebrated together • 20252,151Years of Recovery.
Years of Recovery.
So Much Life Behind Them
Coming back matters.
A milestone gives us a reason to gather, recognize the work and show what recovery can make possible. The experience someone brings into the room may help another person believe in their own next step.
That is a remarkable number, but the real value is everything living behind it.
It is birthdays that were not missed. Families beginning to trust again. Parents showing up. Children getting someone back. Relationships being repaired, new relationships being formed, jobs being kept, commitments being honoured and ordinary days being lived differently.
It is also people returning to the place where part of their own journey began, not because they have to, but because they want to give something back. They sit beside someone who may still be unsure. They share what worked for them. They volunteer, mentor, attend meetings, celebrate milestones and remind others that recovery can become a life, not simply a program someone completed.
When we talk about impact, we need financial results, completion rates and outcomes. They matter. But there is another return that is harder to place in a spreadsheet: a person who once needed support becoming someone able to offer it. A family beginning to heal. A community gaining another person who is present, contributing and connected.
And perhaps one of the greatest measures of recovery is that the support does not stop with the person who first received it. It moves outward, into families, workplaces, friendships and communities, and sometimes all the way back through our doors to the next person who needs to see what is possible.
That is the return. Lives changed, families healing and recovery continuing to give back.
Explore the alumni storiesAbout this total
The 2025 records total 2,151 years across 494 recorded celebrations. Celebrations are not a count of unique alumni, and the total does not measure every person’s recovery outcome.
Governance and gratitude
Recognition Earned Through Everyday Work
In 2025, Fresh Start received two significant forms of outside recognition.
Charity Intelligence named Fresh Start among its Top 10 Impact Charities and Top 10 Canadian Impact Charities, as well as its Top 5 Calgary and Top 5 Homeless-Serving Impact Charities. Those lists assess demonstrated impact per dollar spent among charities reviewed.
Accreditation Canada awarded Fresh Start Exemplary Standing across all three facilities and recognized governance, accountability and the commitment to improve. Those two views matter, but the work behind them is less visible.
It happens when staff show up prepared and follow through. When someone takes the time to document properly, ask another question, repair something before it fails or make sure the next person has the information they need. It happens when clients do the difficult work of change, families keep showing up, alumni return to support others, volunteers give their time and donors and partners continue believing in what recovery can make possible.
Our Board carries an important part of that responsibility. Governance is about more than meetings and approvals. It is about asking the right questions, understanding risk, protecting the mission and making sure the resources entrusted to Fresh Start are used thoughtfully. Accreditation Canada specifically recognized Fresh Start’s governance as mature, accountable and values-driven, with strong oversight and strategic direction.
Recognition gives us reason to be proud. It also gives us reason to remain accountable.
Charity Intelligence looks at the impact created with the resources entrusted to us. Accreditation Canada looks deeply at how the organization operates, governs, learns and delivers care. Together, they offer two different external perspectives on the same responsibility: do the work well, use resources wisely and never lose sight of the people those systems exist to serve.
We are grateful for the recognition, but even more grateful for the people whose everyday work made it possible.
Recognition may carry the Fresh Start name. The credit belongs to a community.
Sources: Charity Intelligence 2025 impact lists; Accreditation Canada Report 2025.
Looking ahead | Fall 2026
Together, We Continue
A closing message from Bruce Holstead, Executive Director
To everyone who has been part of Fresh Start, thank you.
This report captures a year of work, but the real story reaches much further than these pages. The data and key performance indicators help us understand progress, impact, and where we need to keep learning. But people are not numbers, and their stories are real. Behind every measure is a person, a family, a struggle, a decision, a setback, a milestone or a life beginning to look different.
That is why the stories and the data have to sit beside each other. Together, they help us understand what is working, where we need to improve and how an intentional plan can turn what we learn into action without ever losing sight of the people at the centre of it.
That story lives in the people who walked through our doors, the families who stood beside them, the alumni who came back, the staff who showed up every day, and the many people who gave their time, support and belief so that someone else could have a chance.
There is always someone behind the next reason to keep going.
Someone is thinking about asking for help. Someone is beginning again. A family is hoping things can be different. Someone who once needed support is now in a position to offer it to another.
That is how recovery grows. One person, one family, one act of service at a time.
In 2025, we strengthened the foundation beneath that work. We paid attention to our standards, our people, our responsibilities, and the way we operate together. We used what we learned to be more intentional about where we focus our energy, how we use our resources and how we prepare for what comes next. None of that is separate from the care we provide. It is what helps make that care possible, dependable, and sustainable.
What excites me most about what comes next is the community growing around Fresh Start. There is new energy, new leadership, and more people finding ways to be part of the work. Some give financially. Some volunteer. Some share their experiences. Some simply tell another person that help exists.
Every one of those things matters.
As giving season approaches, we invite you to continue with us. A donation helps sustain the care and support people rely on, but generosity takes many forms. Give your time. Introduce someone to Fresh Start. Share our story. Come back to an event. Stay connected. Help keep the door open for the person who has not walked through it yet.
If Fresh Start has been part of your life, there is still a place for you here.
We are grateful for what has been accomplished, but we are not finished. There are more people to reach, more families to stand beside and more opportunities to strengthen this community with intention, care and purpose.
Thank you for being part of it. Together, we continue.
Audited financial statements
Stewardship, in Detail
Four extracts from the audited statements for the year ended March 31, 2026. Read with the complete auditor’s report and notes.
Print / Save PDF includes all four extracts.
Read the complete board approved financial statements (PDF, 14 pages)
Year ended March 31, 2026. Includes the independent auditor’s report and notes.
Audited financial statements | Year ended March 31, 2026
Statement of Financial Position
Audited financial statements | Year ended March 31, 2026
Statement of Revenues and Expenditures
Audited financial statements | Year ended March 31, 2026
Statement of Changes in Net Assets
Audited financial statements | Year ended March 31, 2026
Statement of Cash Flows
With gratitude
Supporters Behind the Work
Some gave financially. Some gave time, expertise, space, food, equipment, introductions or simply showed up when something needed to be done. Each played a part in what became possible this year.
This is Gratitude-Generosity-Community in action. Gratitude for what has been received. Generosity in the willingness to give something back. Community created when those two things come together around people and families finding their way forward.
Although many of you remain unnamed, your contributions are woven into who we are today. Every gift of time, support, knowledge, encouragement and generosity has helped shape Fresh Start and strengthen the community around it.
There is no single way to contribute and no contribution that stands alone. What one person gives may become the opportunity, connection or support another person needs.
Different gifts. Shared purpose. Made possible together.