Highbanks Society was created from a simple but powerful truth: every young mother deserves a safe place to call home and a community that believes in her future.
Founded in the early 2000s, Highbanks emerged as a compassionate response to a growing crisis in Calgary. Each year, more than 500 young mothers give birth in our city - many navigating homelessness, poverty, violence, and isolation at the very moment they are trying to care for a child. These young women often lack stable housing, supportive family networks, or access to education, making it difficult to build a secure foundation for themselves and their children.
Highbanks was created to change that.
From the beginning, our purpose has been clear:
To offer safe, affordable housing and wrap-around support that empowers young mothers (ages 16–24) to break cycles of trauma, pursue education, and build resilient, independent futures.
Grounded in research in epigenetics, brain development, and trauma-informed practice, Highbanks’ approach focuses on providing protective and compensatory experiences that nurture emotional, social, and developmental health for both mother and child.
We do this through:
Subsidized, fully furnished housing that provides stability
Case management and counselling that support healing and growth
Education and employment pathways that build long-term independence
Life-skills and parenting programs that strengthen confidence and capability
A supportive community where mothers can belong, learn, and thrive
Today, Highbanks continues to grow-expanding our programming, deepening community partnerships, and strengthening the village of support surrounding every mother who walks through our doors.
What began as a response to an urgent need has become a lifelong commitment:
To stand beside young mothers, believe in their potential, and help them create the futures they deserve.
Highbanks is more than a housing program.
It is a place of healing, hope, and possibility - for generations to come.
Meet our Founder, Bette Mitchell
As a parent educator, Bette recognized the need for safe, stable housing for many of the young parents she met. Many of the young women and their children were living in crowded conditions, lacked positive parenting role models, and had no hope of improving their situation because they were not attending school regularly or at all.
Bette was inspired to help young moms realize their potential so they could one day live independently as the best parents possible. She named her new organization Highbanks after her parents’ cottage, which symbolized comfort, home, safety, and being out of the water (on the bank) - safe and dry, with a good view of where they had been and where they were going.
Early Stages
In 2001, Bette Mitchell and Lynn Giddings began investigating housing options for single parents in Calgary. When the lack of appropriate housing became obvious, they got to work. An office was set up in Bette’s living room, and friends and associates were invited to join the Board of Directors. Bette and Lynn began writing their first proposals for funding. Soon Barb Vogen was recruited, and her commitment to developing community partnerships and supporting the early organizing of the Society was invaluable.
After searching for an appropriate building to house Highbanks Society, Bowview Apartments in West Hillhurst was located as the ideal location: close to the Louise Dean School, West Hillhurst Health Clinic, childcare, public transportation, parks, and a recreation centre. This 50-year-old two-storey building contained six small apartments, with two retail outlets on the ground level. The popular Dairy Lane Café was an added incentive to purchasing the building. Young mothers who lived in the building could work in the café and gain valuable retail job experience.
Highbanks purchased the building in December 2002 and took possession on March 1, 2003 — leasing until becoming proud mortgage-free owners on November 1, 2003.
