News & Stories

9/11: When the World Changed, Our Doors Opened

September 11, 2026

On September 11, 2001, the Calgary Drop In Centre’s new shelter was still weeks away from opening. 9/11 changed everything, turning an unfinished building into an unexpected place of refuge.

The DI had always been needed, but in the days that followed 9/11, it was needed in ways no one could have anticipated.

On September 11, 2001, the world watched in disbelief as the Twin Towers fell in New York City. In Calgary, preparations were underway for the opening of a new Calgary Drop-In Centre facility; the building was still three weeks away from officially opening.

Then the planes stopped flying. Thousands of travellers around the world were stranded as airspace closed following the attacks in the United States. Among them were tourists and travellers who had nowhere to go. And so, three weeks earlier than planned, the Calgary Drop-In Centre opened its doors.

“When I woke up at 2pm that day, I heard on the radio that the DI would be housing folks that night,” recalled John, the DI’s Senior Night Supervisor in 2001, who was responsible for overseeing the DI’s overnight programs and care for guests who had nowhere else to go.

“The DI wasn’t supposed to be open yet, but plans changed quickly.”

Staff and volunteers came together to transform a building that wasn’t quite ready into a place where people could sleep, eat and feel safe. The City of Calgary moved quickly to approve an occupancy permit. Staff made beds on the fourth and fifth floors. Permits were secured to open the kitchen and begin food service. Volunteers and community partners arrived ready to help.

One of the groups heavily involved was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And then the larger Calgary community responded.

A Community Comes Together

It takes a community to build community. In those first unexpected days, that idea became more than a phrase. It became the way the DI, its staff, volunteers, partners and neighbours responded when people needed safety, dignity and care without warning.

The following day, a line of vehicles stretched down 4th Street and continued for blocks. People were arriving with food, clothing, hygiene products and other basic necessities.

By 7pm, the building had the necessary occupancy and food-handling approvals. By 9pm, people were arriving at the DI.

Belgian tourists, travellers from other parts of the world, people who had been separated from their plans and didn’t have another place to go. Over approximately 10 days, about 200 people stayed at the DI.

Staff and volunteers not only cared for the people staying in the building but continued staffing the other facilities and programs the DI was operating at the time.

What was supposed to be a building preparing to open in three weeks had suddenly become a refuge for people displaced by one of the most significant events in modern history. And in doing so, the DI gained something that could never have been planned for on a construction schedule: experience in responding when a community suddenly needs help.

About three weeks later, the DI was able to open its first and fourth floors as planned, and the building began filling with people who needed its services. The experience of those unexpected first days helped lay the groundwork for what came next.

“When the people come together, we can really do things.” That lesson from September 2001 has stayed with the DI. It continues to shape how the organization works with community partners today: responding quickly, mobilizing practical support and helping people move from crisis toward stability when they have nowhere else to turn.

The Calgary Drop-In Centre Today

Today, that same spirit of community response continues through the DI, an organization accredited by the Canadian Accreditation Council (CAC) and dedicated to helping people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness access permanent, supported and affordable housing.

That spirit of responding when people need help extends beyond homelessness.

The DI’s Free Goods Program, for example, maintains donated essential goods that can be mobilized quickly when emergencies displace people from their homes. The program has supported people affected by wildfires, floods, house fires and other emergencies, providing practical necessities to people who may have had to leave home with little warning. 

The DI opened its doors 65 years ago and has evolved and grown overtime. In 2018, we transformed our shelter programs and declared that everything we do would have housing in mind. Rather than creating a long-term “home” for people in shelter, the agency invested in new programs and trained housing specialists to help people exit homelessness and find their way home.

When people are displaced, when plans change overnight, when someone has nowhere else to turn, the DI can respond because community responds with it. The legacy of those first unexpected days is visible in every partnership, donation, volunteer effort and program that helps people find safety, stability and a path home.