Growth spurt at Calgary's child advocacy centre: Luna has outgrown its home

A rendering of the family space in Luna's new centre, which is expected to open in early 2027. Image: Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre

Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre's building was designed to support about 1,000 children and youth a year. Last year it supported 4,713, according to Luna's 2025-26 impact report.

Now the Calgary centre, where police, child protection workers, doctors and therapists work together on the most serious child abuse cases, is getting a bigger home. The new building is expected to open in early 2027.

The need is bigger than most people realize. About two in three people born in Alberta reported experiencing some form of child maltreatment before they turned 15, a 2023 Statistics Canada study found. That's 67.5 per cent for Alberta, compared with 59.7 per cent for Canada as a whole.

"I think people have no idea the prevalence of child maltreatment," said Karen Orser, Luna's CEO.

For Child Abuse Prevention Month, Orser spoke with the Calgary Citizen about why Luna has grown so fast, what it does, and how Calgarians can help finish the new centre.

Luna opened in 2013 and has supported more than 30,000 children, youth and families from Calgary and the surrounding area since then.

Orser said there's no single reason demand has grown so far past what the building was designed for. Calgary and the surrounding area have grown a lot in the 13 years since Luna opened, and more people may be reporting abuse because it's being talked about more.

"Not only has the volume of work, but the nature of the work has changed as well."

Luna now offers therapy and interventions it couldn't offer before, with group therapy rooms, observation rooms and more interview rooms. It also has a room where kids can testify remotely. "They don't have to go down to court all the time. That can be kind of a scary place."

She called the new centre "quite a long overdue expansion for us."

When a case is serious enough that police, health care and children's services all need to be involved, Luna brings them together as one team in one building. More than 140 professionals from police, child protection, medical and therapy services, justice and victim services work there.

The Calgary Police Service's whole Child Abuse Unit works out of Luna, along with 14 child trauma therapists, four pediatricians and Crown prosecutors.

"They get one response. They only have to come to one place. The kids only have to provide their statement one time." That means a child doesn't have to relive what happened by telling it again and again to different agencies.

It helps the professionals, too. Partners such as the Calgary Police Service, the RCMP and Luna's therapy team can share information, which means a better response and a better investigation.

"It is the way that child abuse should be responded to."

Orser calls Calgary lucky to have one of the biggest and most comprehensive child advocacy centres in the country. "And people don't know that."

Luna's support doesn't end when an investigation does. Some families need Luna for a short time. Others have complex needs, and a court case can take three years. Luna supports them through all of it.

"Our commitment at Luna is to provide the support families need, however long they need it."

"Luckily, if you don't know about Luna, it means you probably haven't been here." But given the numbers, Orser expects many people will have some contact with Luna at some point, "and we want people to know that if they need us, we have this service right in Calgary."

It's broader than physical abuse. The Statistics Canada study counted five types: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence and physical neglect.

Child advocacy centres like Luna handle the most serious of those cases.

"Child advocacy centres are specialized responses to the most severe and complex types of child abuse."

About half the children and youth Luna supported last year, 52 per cent, were referred for sexual abuse, according to its impact report. Physical abuse, problematic sexual behaviour and the risk of sexual abuse made up most of the rest. Nearly half were 12 to 17.

Luna is moving into a bigger building that it has had to renovate. In September, it launched a $7-million capital campaign to pay for the new centre, called "More than a Building. A Place for Healing." The centre is expected to open in early 2027.

The community has "already responded tremendously," and Luna is only about $1.6 million from its target.

"When we started this journey, we were very nervous about whether we'd be able to do this in these economic times. But people have really stepped up for us."

Luna hopes to close the gap before Christmas.

You can give through Luna's campaign page. Until the end of October, Luna is also asking people to wear blue or light their homes in blue and post with #GoBlueAB.

Our Mind and Body page has a checked list of where to get help in Calgary. If you're in crisis, call or text 9-8-8 any time.