We've all heard that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Calgary, which continues to undergo an urban renaissance. Over the next five days, CREB®Now will present a series where it has sat down with five influencers who have helped develop the city as we know it today.

The lure of lasting value

He leads a Calgary-based company with assets of $3.2 billion and 1,100 employees in 12 different North American markets.

In its 57-year history, the company has developed and built in 62 Calgary neighbourhoods in all four quadrants of the city.

But while Alan Norris's Brookfield Residential Properties has been successful developing communities throughout North America, the president and CEO also leads what may be his biggest task yet: to end homelessness in Calgary.

RESOLVE affordable housing initiative approaches successful conclusion

What do I want, you ask so innocently.
I want a HOME, as many of you have.

These lines come from a poem written by 67-year-old Anne Cartledge. "I use all capital letters when I write the word 'home,' because that's how important it is," she said.

Plagued with severe arthritis and fibromyalgia that left her unable to work, Cartledge first survived on AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) and, now, on her Old Age Security pension.

Though Cartledge describes herself as a "frugal shopper" and "good at the scrounge routine," she also admits, "I am part of the circle that if I didn't have subsidized housing, I'd be living on the street."