Calgary Foundation Provides Transformational Funding for Luna’s New Centre

Luna is thrilled to share that the Calgary Foundation has provided $1 million in funding in support of a new purpose-built Luna Centre for children and youth who have experienced abuse. This funding comes from the Foundation’s Major Grants that support large-scale initiatives with transformational impact that broadly enrich the community. 

Calgary Foundation has been a dedicated partner since we first began looking at the need for a new space to meet the growing demand for the support and services that Luna provides. This transformational gift reflects the Foundation’s belief in Luna’s purpose, and its shared commitment to ensuring children and youth are safe and have the support they need to heal.  

It also reflects a shared vision for Calgary: a city that invests in the well-being of its children and youth and works together to create a stronger future for everyone. 

"Luna's new centre will strengthen collaboration across health, justice, child protection and law enforcement and ensure that more children and families receive the protection and supports they need. Calgary Foundation is proud to support this project that will transform Calgary's trauma-informed services for children and youth and help build a future where every child can thrive.” – Eva Friesen, President & CEO, Calgary Foundation 

The Foundation’s early investment has also helped Luna engage with other foundations, organizations, and donors, by demonstrating the strength of community support for Luna and for the construction of a new Centre. With this support, Luna was able to launch the public phase of our $7 million capital campaign with 55% of the campaign goal already secured.  

Since opening in 2013, Luna has supported more than 30,000 children, youth and families from Calgary and the surrounding areas in southern Alberta who have experienced abuse. Today, nearly 5,000 children and youth access our services each year, which is five-times the number our current Centre was designed to support. 

The new Centre, currently under construction, is an important part of responding to that growth. It will provide the enhanced space, privacy, accessibility and specialized environments needed to support children and families today, while creating capacity to meet the needs of the community in the future. 

Building what Calgary needs 

Calgary is growing, and so is the need for services that support children and youth who have experienced abuse. The new Luna Centre is about more than creating additional space. It is an investment in the kind of community we want Calgary to be – a city where children and families have access to the support they need and where our community comes together to create a safer and stronger future. 

Funding from the Calgary Foundation helped Luna take an important step toward realizing this vision. By investing early and demonstrating its confidence in Luna, the Foundation helped create momentum for the broader community to come together around the campaign. 

“Calgary Foundation’s $1 million investment is truly transformational for Luna and for our vision of a new Centre for children, youth, and families. They have been a dedicated partner as we have worked to understand the need for a new space and bring this vision to life, and their early belief in what is possible has helped us build momentum and bring others into this campaign.  

We are deeply grateful for their confidence in Luna, their commitment to the safety and well-being of children and youth, and their shared belief in the kind of community we want Calgary to be. This gift is helping us build not just a new Centre, but a brighter future for children and families.” — Karen Orser, CEO, Luna Child & Youth Advocacy Centre 

More than a building. A place for healing. 

The Calgary Foundation and all those who contribute to Luna’s capital campaign, are investing in a future where every child who needs support has a place to feel safe, be heard, and begin to heal. 

Luna has always been an example of what is possible when people work together, and now we need our community once again, to help us raise the remaining $3.15 million of our $7 million goal, so we can finish the new Luna Centre for the children, youth, and families who are counting on us now, and the many more who will need us in the future. 

Learn more about Luna's Capital Campaign and how you can help build the new Centre:
Luna Capital Campaign