Balwin Place: Good Neighbor Commitment
The Good Neighbor Commitment outlines the shared responsibility between the George Spady Society, residents of the PSH site, and the community to foster positive neighborhood relationships.
Community Contact Name and Job Title:
Tara Sobey, Senior Manager
o Email: tsobey@gspady.ab.ca
o Telephone: 587.635.0468 (24 Hours)
Renee Iverson, Director of Housing
o Email: riverson@gspady.ab.ca
o Telephone: 587-524-1530 x 102
Balwin Place Program Description
Balwin Place is a Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) facility funded by Homeward Trust and operated by the George Spady Society (GSS) in partnership with Alberta Health Services (AHS). Onsite staff provide essential services and long-term housing stability to individuals with complex needs who have experienced chronic homelessness. The 4-story building has 25 single bedroom units and can accommodate four low barrier or wheelchair-bound residents. Staff provide 24/7 support including service planning and coordination. PSH sites address the need for long term housing of those most in need. Programming reduces the use of community emergency services, hospital beds, police interaction and time spent incarcerated. Chronically homeless individuals are safely and stably housed reducing the stress on mainstream service providers and system costs, in turn, increasing community safety.
George Spady Society Community Commitment:
The George Spady Society is committed to ongoing quality improvement. One of the ways we ensure this is by conducting quarterly reviews in which the agency’s leadership explores trends, barriers and outcomes of incidents that take place within the scope of our programs. By thinking critically about onsite incidents, Balwin Place is able to invest time and resources into improving safety for our staff, residents and community.
Below is a procedure that will ensure that community members and agencies have grievances of any type heard and addressed in a timely manner.
Balwin Place, Balwin Place Residents, and Community Roles & Responsibilities
George Spady Society is invested in the Balwin neighborhood where Balwin Place is located. This means that Balwin Place program is committed to supporting healthy and safe community. Supporting this effort is a strong understanding of the roles and responsibilities within the community.
Filing a Complaint
Our community partners and community members have the right to have their complaints heard by the management of the George Spady Society Balwin Place program. If you would like to file a formal complaint please either email tsobey@gspady.ab.ca or phone 587.635.0468.
Our response upon receiving a community complaint:
Pass the complaint directly to the Program Manager, Tara Sobey at tsobey@gspady.ab.ca or phone 587.635.0468, who will then inform the CEO, Director or their designate.
If the complaint is a verbal complaint, the Program Manager will request the complaint in writing, and then forward the complaint to the Director, CEO, or their designate. The complaint will need to include:
o When did the event take place?
o Who was involved?
o What took place and what is the nature of the complaint? Examples…
Appearance of a PSH site
Behavior or activities of tenants/residents of a PSH site
Behavior or activities of staff of a PSH site.
Anything that contravenes positive community relationships and neighborhood enjoyment.
Other infractions that contravene Homeward Trust PSH policies, standards, and/or Good Neighbor Commitment.
o How would the complainant like us to address the situation?
3. Upon receipt of the complaint, the Program Manager with the Director, CEO, or their designate, will:
o review the grievance
o investigate within 2 business days of the complaint, and
o respond in writing (if applicable) within 10 business days.
4. If the response received is not satisfactory, the complainant may send their grievance to the Board of Directors of the
George Spady Society for further resolution. In this case, they will need to resubmit their complaint, outlining what has
taken place to date to resolve the issue and what their specific concerns are.
In the event the complainant has exhausted the complaint process through the George Spady Society, the community member is then able to access the Complains and Resolutions Process through Homeward Trust.