Calgary dry cleaner who pays it forward by feeding and clothing homeless says city hall throws up roadblocks

Local effort to help the homeless hindered? A dry-cleaning chain committed to helping Calgary's homeless population says the city is putting up roadblocks to stop it.

Imran Rajpoot, owner of Calgary-based Dolphin Dry Cleaners, has been providing essential clothing and food to many in Calgary’s homeless population for years.

All the clothing is cleaned, pressed and -- if necessary -- mended before being distributed to people in need.

Every Saturday for the past five years, Rajpoot with his family and staff have distributed hundreds of coats, as well as other essential items including shirts, pants and clean underwear.

"I believe that clean underwear is an essential human right," said Rajpoot.

"Every Saturday, we come back (from distributing clothes) with zero underwear," he said. "It's all gone.”

He also offers the homeless food and drinks including water, coffee, muffins and sandwiches.

However, Rajpoot claims the City of Calgary has been making it increasingly difficult for him to continue his charitable work.

He says in the spring, bylaw officers told him he could not be set up in front of the Drop-In Centre, though there were no rules preventing it.

Physical barriers

In early October, the city erected physical barriers preventing Rajpoot from parking his van there.

"They put up concrete pylons a few months ago so we couldn’t mount the pavement and serve the homeless there," Rajpoot said. "We’re not even allowed to unload the vans there, so we have to unload the vans blocks away and then carry everything to the site and set up on the street and serve the homeless."

Rajpoot has reached out to Mayor Jyoti Gondek’s office, seeking a compromise, saying he is not requesting any city funding, simply a designated space to continue his charitable work.

Despite his efforts, he has yet to receive a response.

"I sent them an email letting them know what we’re experiencing, the difficulty that we’re having with the bylaw officers and asking if they can allocate some kind of area where we can do what we do." Rajpoot said. "We don’t need any special treatment. Just let us serve the homeless."

Unaware

When questioned by CTV News, Gondek said she was unaware of the situation.

"Your question is one I have not been briefed on," said Gondek. "Obviously, I am not the one who put up the barriers. I can dig into this but I don’t have a quick answer."

Despite the challenges, Rajpoot remains committed to helping the homeless community, saying he’ll continue to distribute clothing and food, even if it takes the extra time and effort to park blocks away and wheel the racks of clothes down the sidewalk.

"I don’t know why the city is doing this, especially at this time of the year. So much for the Christmas spirit."

Rajpoot continues to collect clothing at all of his Dolphin Dry Cleaners locations in Calgary. While he takes in used clothing to clean and distribute, he says there’s a dire need for new underwear.

"Our clothes go like hot cakes in the winter," he said. "In the summer, we collect them and we build up the stock, and the stock is depleted during the winter. By January, I think I'll be completely out.”