An inner-city anti-poverty agency that began its existence helping immigrants from Ukraine is celebrating its centenary.

Edmonton's Bissell Centre, which started off as the All People's Mission, has provided food, clothing and support for people in poverty since 1910.

'I was kind of lost here and the Bissell kind of helped me through some difficulties and stuff, so I'm giving back.'— Neil Kennedy, Bissell volunteer

Neil Kennedy, who now volunteers at the centre after turning to it for help in 1975, says there's no telling where he might have ended up if the centre hadn't helped him find part-time work when he moved to Edmonton from Lac La Biche after his father's death.

"I might have ended up on the streets, and I might not even be here today," Kennedy said as he sorted through mismatched plates and cutlery at the centre's community closet. "You know, hard drugs, OD, stuff like that — anything could have happened to me.

"I was kind of lost here and the Bissell kind of helped me through some difficulties and stuff, so I'm giving back."

That's the kind of commitment that's kept the centre running for the last century, said Shelley Williams, the agency's executive director.

"Bissell could not do what it does without the community of Edmontonians," Williams said. "We need $1 million a year to balance our budget. Those are community donations that pay for a daycare and preschool program. Donations to help find jobs, homes and a place for people with nowhere else to go."