Did we prevent that?

For 60 years, Family and Community Support Services has been quietly strengthening the wellbeing of Albertans through community‑driven prevention. The thing about prevention is: some of its greatest successes are the ones you never see. You can’t measure the full impact of a crisis that didn’t happen. You can’t tally the emergencies that never escalated. Prevention is powerful, but it’s also, sometimes, wonderfully unprovable.

In honour of all the close calls, all the almost‑disasters that never became headlines and all the “thank goodness that didn’t happen” moments that were shaped by FCSS, we’re sharing a few near misses from the past six decades. The could‑have‑beens. The should‑have‑beens. These are the did-it-not‑happen‑because‑prevention‑works? beens.

A little fun. A little nostalgia. And a whole lot of appreciation for the invisible impact FCSS has had since 1966.

Prevention by the Decade

1960s

We’re exploring some of the “we may have prevented that” moments from six decades of FCSS history. Was it prevention? Was it luck? Was it both? That’s the fun of the Prevention Files. Because FCSS has always been in the business of prevention, even the kind you can’t quite prove.

1970s

The 1970s were a golden era for apocalyptic predictions. The 70s had no shortage of almost‑catastrophes. Yet somehow, despite all the dramatic forecasts, Alberta carried on, communities kept thriving, and FCSS was quietly doing what it does best: preventing the worst, even when the worst never quite showed up.

1980s

The 1980s were convinced the end was nigh. Yet somehow, Alberta stayed upright, communities kept growing, and FCSS was quietly doing what it does best: preventing chaos.

1990s

The 1990s gave us a whole new level of big hair, big vibes panic. Yet somehow, despite it all FCSS was right there, preventing the everyday crises that actually mattered.

2000s

The 2000s was the decade that looked around, shrugged and said “What if we just stack on the apocalypses?” With the rise of the internet, anyone with dial-up could now create their own flavour. And yet — Alberta kept on Alberta‑ing. Communities stayed strong, families kept thriving and FCSS was quietly preventing the actual crises of the time.

2010s

The 2010s brought their own wave of “is this the end?” moments. Through it all, Alberta kept thriving; steadily showing up for each other. And FCSS quietly stayed focused on the real‑world prevention that actually mattered.

2020s

So far, the 2020s have not disappointed with enough real‑world chaos to make every past apocalypse look like amateur hour. It is a decade that seems determined to test everyone’s resilience, as we quietly ask ourselves “is this actually happening?” Through it all FCSS keeps doing what it does best: preventing the things we’ll never fully know about.