Launched in Spring 2022, our Companion Program continues to grow and thrive!
The program, coordinated out of our Osten-Victor Living with Advanced Illness Centre, thoughtfully matches trained volunteers with people who are living with an advanced illness to enhance the quality of life for the client and their support system. As the name suggests, companionship is the heart of this work. Volunteers provide meaningful connections through conversation, shared activities, practical assistance, and community resources.
One of our Companion Program volunteer/client duos!
Since the program’s inception, we have facilitated 209 client-volunteer matches. As of May 2026, 46 volunteers are actively supporting individuals across Calgary!
As part of our process, we invite participants to share feedback through follow-up surveys. When asked what they were hoping to gain by joining the program, clients shared:
“Someone to cut fabric for me and assist me in my quilting.”
“I needed someone to take me to doctors’ appointments and to the lab for bloodwork and other tests.”
“Someone who enjoys going out for lunch or coffee, or even just to sit and talk.”
These responses are a powerful reminder that connection looks different for everyone—but that a sense of community is something we all need to thrive. The Companion Program helps foster those meaningful connections, one relationship at a time.
The impact of the program extends to our volunteers as well. One volunteer shared: “My client and I have more in common than anyone I’ve ever met. The big difference between us is that she lives her passions, while I drifted away from mine somewhere along the way. She doesn’t realize that in less than an hour, her life may have changed mine.”
Stories like this highlight how special the Companion Program is—where both clients and volunteers find connection and purpose.
Would you or someone you know benefit from our Companion Program? Learn more here.