I take great pleasure in talking to people who just seem to fit their job and who are passionate in working to achieve the goals they have set.Arlene Adamson is such a person, totally at ease and excited about her new role as CEO of MCF Housing for Seniors.

She has a great track record throughout her journey that brought her to MCF; facing challenges she cared about that have helped her develop skills that will ensure the organization can help seniors enjoy life more.

Born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., into a family very involved in the small community they moved south and after graduation Adamson got her first recreation job in the forensic unit of an Edmonton hospital. In the early ’80s she moved to Calgary and joined the Red Cross, responsible for water safety training in Southern Alberta and then became assistant manager of the blood clinics.

Later, Adamson worked in development and communications for the Canadian Cancer Foundation, which soon relocated her to head office in Toronto, where she was responsible for national fundraising programs.

While visiting friends in Calgary, her parents were involved in an accident and wanting to look after them she found a way to stay in Calgary when she was asked to help the YWCA, which at the time was struggling with its brand position, had financial challenges and although doing great work, not enough people were aware of its achievements.

An “I can make a difference” person, Adamson took on a new role of director of communications and fund development and successes such as the negotiations with Vermillion Energy to support the YWCA Training Centre elevated her to the position of COO.

Her experience with her parents has given her a special understanding of the needs of seniors and MCF gives her the opportunity to help her 320 staff and 150 or so volunteers invest in not only providing low-cost housing but giving seniors a quality of life that will help them to thrive in their latter years.

MCF currently has nine supported lodges and 16 independent facilities and plans are underway to build on its site off Bow Trail by Shaganappi golf course.

But Adamson wants more than a seniors’ home - her vision is for a place that will be fully integrated into the community; a model that could engage young people in relationships that would no doubt benefit them as well as seniors.

Next year is the 50th anniversary of MCF. It is a time when there is a huge need for more housing for seniors, in particular for those with no hope of being able to afford private-care residences who just might need expensive hospital care if subsidized accommodation is not available.

Adamson is on a mission to get more housing for vulnerable seniors with a deeper, wider support system and will get Calgarians involved to make it happen.

 

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