Article – I’ve been reporting on government policy changes across Alberta for the past seven years, and while budget shifts often dominate headlines, it’s the ground-level community stories that truly measure policy impact. My latest visit to Olds revealed exactly how facility location can dramatically affect social service accessibility.
The Mountain View Food Bank’s recent relocation in Olds has triggered a significant surge in new registrations, highlighting how physical barriers to accessing support services can mask the true extent of community need.
“We’ve seen a 30% increase in new clients since moving to our more central location,” explained Marian Jones, executive director of the Mountain View Food Bank. “Many people were struggling to reach our previous facility on the outskirts of town, especially seniors and families without reliable transportation.”
The food bank’s move from the industrial area to a more accessible downtown location has eliminated what social workers call “the geography gap” – the distance between services and those who need them most. What’s particularly striking is how quickly registration numbers climbed after the relocation.
The Mountain View Food Bank now serves approximately 350 families monthly across Olds and surrounding rural communities, up from 270 families before the move. Records show nearly 60 new households registered within the first three weeks at the new location.
Food insecurity in Alberta has been climbing steadily since 2019, with provincial data showing a 27% increase in food bank dependency during the past four years. The Alberta Council of Food Banks reports that rural communities have been particularly hard-hit by inflation and transportation costs.
Town councillor Heather Ryan, who helped facilitate the relocation through municipal zoning adjustments, told me during a tour of the facility: “We had the statistical data showing need existed, but until the service became truly accessible, we didn’t grasp the full picture. People were going without rather than making the difficult journey to the old location.”
The renovated downtown space includes wider doorways for accessibility, an expanded refrigeration system, and – perhaps most importantly – is now within walking distance of three senior housing complexes and the town’s main bus routes.
The phenomenon isn’t limited to Olds. Similar patterns emerged when Medicine Hat consolidated social services into a central hub in 2021, resulting in a 24% increase in program participation within six months.
What’s happening in Olds reveals a subtle but crucial insight about how we measure community need. Government funding formulas typically rely on service utilization statistics, but these numbers can be artificially deflated when physical barriers prevent access.
“For years, we based our budget requests on the number of clients served,” Jones explained while volunteers sorted donations behind her. “But now we understand those figures were never capturing the full need. Some families were choosing between spending gas money to reach us or using those dollars for groceries instead.”
The food bank’s volunteer coordinator, Ellen Samuelson, shared stories of elderly residents who previously tried to walk nearly three kilometers to the old location. “One gentleman in his 70s would make the journey once a month, regardless of weather, because his pension doesn’t stretch to cover both housing and food costs. Now he can walk four blocks instead.”
Provincial funding for food security programs has remained relatively flat since 2020, despite Statistics Canada reporting that food costs in Alberta rose 17.3% during the same period. This leaves community organizations scrambling to address growing demand with static resources.
The Mountain View Food Bank’s experience offers a valuable lesson for municipal planners and provincial policymakers: the location of essential services isn’t merely a logistical consideration – it directly impacts who receives help and who remains invisible in the system.
Mayor Michael Muzychka acknowledged this reality during a recent town council meeting, noting that “accessibility isn’t just about having services available; it’s about making them practically reachable for everyone in our community.”
The food bank’s board is now collecting detailed data on their new registrants to better understand the previously hidden need. Early findings suggest many new users are seniors on fixed incomes and working families struggling with inflation – populations that often fall through cracks in the social safety net.
The relocation has also sparked increased community engagement. Local businesses have initiated new donation programs, and volunteer applications have doubled since the move. The heightened visibility seems to have reminded the community of both the need and the opportunity to help.
As Alberta’s provincial government reviews its community support funding models next spring, the Olds example offers compelling evidence that service location should be a primary consideration in both program design and need assessment.
For residents like Marta Grzegorczyk, a single mother of two who recently began using the food bank, the impact is immediate and meaningful. “Before, I would have needed to take two buses and spend nearly an hour traveling each way. As someone working two part-time jobs, I simply couldn’t afford the time. Now I can stop in during my lunch break from work.”
The surge in registrations at Mountain View Food Bank tells a story beyond numbers – it reveals the invisible barriers that often separate vulnerable community members from the services designed to support them. As municipalities across Alberta face similar challenges with food security and service accessibility, the Olds experience offers both a warning and a roadmap.
