Alice Lam - Action is the best progress!
Meet Alice Lam.
Our community has struggled with many events from this past year, each more challenging than the next. Even through various isolations, lockdowns and quarantines, Alice Lam has made sure to do her part in alleviating the pain for those who are struggling.
Alice Lam - Photo courtesy of Alice Lam
Alice has been volunteering since she was fifteen and commonly saw the importance of creating a better community for all. In University, she dove into better understanding human geography and urban planning. Her passion and studies helped propel Alice’s desire to build sustainable and inclusive cities. Alice later went on to do her master’s in business in France, which allowed her to take courses from excellent professors and taught her about how other countries and cities worldwide work.
Once she graduated from her master’s program, Alice worked for a marketing firm in New York. As a way of getting to know her area, she took the opportunity to volunteer. Through volunteering, she met various organizations that offered her insight into what her home was missing.
The slight disconnect is something Alice knows well. Born and raised in Calgary, Alice is the daughter of refugees. She understands how difficult it is to be from a low-income family with parents with low literacy rates and underpaid.
“It’s not easy having immigrant parents. There’s a lot of language barriers. You have to grow up pretty quick and become the advocate for your family.”
It didn’t take long for Alice to realize how difficult it was to find the opportunities to volunteer. She was desperate to return to Calgary to apply all the fantastic things she’s learned from her travels. The minute she landed, she began networking and research. It became apparent that it was highly inaccessible to the average Calgarian to access opportunities to volunteer. Through various connections, she created a community, Vollyapp (vollyapp.com)--Tinder for volunteering. Volly currently takes on 2,700 volunteers over 180 organizations.
“Volly is a technological and modern solution for helping people who want to volunteer. During the pandemic, many non-profits closed their doors. With their doors being closed, it left many people with the inability to volunteer in a period where many had the time to volunteer. Volly took on this role that allowed volunteers to know what was going on in the city and how they could help safely. We were able to grow our reach and offer an opportunity to meet those needs quicker.”
Volly taught Alice that communities need to know if and where opportunities are within their city. Alice noticed that Calgarians wanted a chance to invest back into their city. Alice continues to evolve and offer those resources back into the community. She’s helped entrepreneurs obtain affordable leases in a beautiful building on Centre Streets. She’s aided and organized a communal fridge in downtown Calgary.
Soon, Alice ventured into creating Tigerstedt Flea, a market for local entrepreneurs to set up shop and sell their locally made products. The culture of Tigerstedt is to champion the voiceless and support local non-profits who want to make money for their trades. Their success came to a hitch in March 2020. When COVID hit, Alice knew that she had to make sure those consumers didn’t forget Tigerstedt. They pivoted to virtual shopping events. Though Tigerstedt would survive, Alice saw the effects of COVID and the needs around those struggling seemed to impact the community was feeling.
Tigerstedt - 918 Centre St N, Calgary, AB T2E 2P7 - Photo courtesy of Alice Lam
Alice, The Hatch, Community Fridge, Calgary’s Immigrants Woman’s Association and the treasurer from Volly went to check out a local space. It’s a combined effort launching their pay as you will thrift store. Alice drafted a proposal and reached out to local contractors to see what was possible. Eventually, the landlord looked at their proposal and said yes, they could have the space.
Community Fridge @CalgaryCommunityFridge - Photo courtesy of Alice Lam
Through Volly, they sent out the volunteer requests, and Calgarians answered. Artists, stylists, photographers, and contractors came together for six weeks every day painting and cleaning to launch Calgary’s first pay what you can community market (open Thursday - Saturday 11:00 am. -6:00 pm). They sell books, clothing, and food, shoes and plants. All donation-based and volunteer ran. One hundred percent goes to buying food for the Calgary Community Fridge.
“As volunteers, I don’t want to be the person who decides for someone how much they deserve to pay.”
Good Neighbour - A “pay what you want” thrift store run by volunteers. Take what you need, leave what you can. Shop and donate Thursday - Saturday 11-5. Address 149 5 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 5T1. Photo courtesy of Alice Lam
This process allows those who are in need to come in and shop while paying what they can. The model is built to help eliminate the shame that comes with being in need. Alice hopes that those who come in enjoy the shopping experience where they feel welcomed. Above all the volunteer work, they make sure that everyone is accepted no matter what. They are wheelchair accessible and afford those the right to be seen and known during their difficult times.
“We can’t turn Calgary into an inclusive, cool, fun place that’s full of public art and opportunities for our artists if we’re not out in our community.”
Alice urges Calgarians to continue to challenge perceptions and have those hard conversations. Look for ways to contribute to the solution rather than being idle bystanders. Find a cause and champion it. As consumers or volunteers, we can’t champion each cause, but if we each pick one and talk about it with everyone who will listen, we’ll make changes.
With the holiday season quickly approaching, we encourage you to find ways to help your neighbour or community. For opportunities with Good Neighbour, you can find them on Instagram @goodneighbouryyc or The Calgary Community Fridge @CalgaryCommunityFridge. You can always go on Vollyapp.com year-round to see what volunteer options work for you.
Calgarians, don’t wait for someone to fix the problem you see--action is the best progress.
Crystal Cervantes has spent the better part of the last decade writing, taking photographs, and wandering from book to book. As a born storyteller, she finds enjoyment in surrounding herself with those who push her from her introverted shell to experience adventure at every turn.
Crystal graduated from BYU with a degree in Political Science and a minor in English. She is a Content Writer for Best Version Media and freelances at a variety of publications. Crystal has written two books, the Deviation Series, and is currently working on her third novel. Through her struggle of writing two books, she realized she created a personal writer's notebook that could help others organize their thoughts and plot, the Gladius Journal.
