Historical Sketch

To meet the needs of homeless men during day-time hours, the Edmonton Day Centre for Transient Men opened in January 1963 with financial support from the United Church’s Board of Home Missions. Reverend William Lindsay-Stewart was the first Director of the Day Centre. Within a few years, the Day Centre was incorporated, a community-appointed board took over its operations, and funding sources expanded to include the United Church, the United Community Fund, private donations, and the Alberta Provincial Government (which eventually assumed total financial responsibility).

While the Edmonton Day Centre provided much needed daytime drop-in services to unemployed homeless men in Edmonton, there was a lack of services for men suffering from the effects of alcohol. In particular, there was no overnight shelter for men who were intoxicated. Chris Modersohn, a night watchman at a downtown rooming house, became extremely concerned about the plight of intoxicated men who lacked safe and warm night-time shelter. In 1969 Mr. Modersohn succeeded in securing funding from the United Church’s Board of Home Missions to open the first Overnight Shelter for intoxicated men.

In 1970, the Alberta Provincial Government agreed to fund the Overnight Shelter on the condition that it integrate its facility and services with the Edmonton Day Centre for Transient Men. At first, the Overnight Shelter moved into the Edmonton Day Centre. Then, in 1972, the gymnasium at the United Church’s Bissell Centre became a temporary location for both the Overnight Shelter and the Edmonton Day Centre. On September 13, 1973, a new facility, the Edmonton Men’s Shelter, opened. Reverend George W. Spady was the Director of the Shelter, which received partial funding from the provincial government. Reverend Spady was the Director of the Shelter until 1980, when he retired.

By 1980 the staff of the Edmonton Men’s Shelter were struggling to meet the shelter and basic care needs for increasing numbers of men using the facility and services. The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) entered into discussions with the Board of Directors of the Men’s Shelter and began plans to develop a facility that would provide overnight shelter for 50 intoxicated men and a 20-bed non-medical detoxification program.

On September 26, 1983, the Shelter opened at its present location, and was named the George Spady Centre. The George Spady Centre facility is owned by Alberta Infrastructure under a lease agreement sponsored by AADAC. During the 1990s, the Spady Centre expanded its overnight shelter and detoxification services to women, and funds were raised to increase the number of mats in the overnight shelter to 60.

Today, the George Spady Centre is funded primarily by AADAC and continues to operate as an outreach ministry of the Edmonton Presbytery of the United Church. It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.