Announcing the 21st Century Fund

For 94 years Family Service Toronto (FST) has been an important part of the social fabric of our city, quietly meeting the needs of its people most in need of support. It has changed with the times as the city has changed and is now looking to secure more funding to meet the growing demands for programs and services expected in the twenty-first century.

Toronto is home to over 2.5 million individuals whose needs are more diverse and complex than the volunteer founders of FST – then known as Neighbourhood Workers Association of Toronto – could have imagined. It is an imperative of the organization to reflect the diversity of the city’s population in all areas of the organization.

Compassion. Connection. Community.

These remain the core values of the work that is done each and every day by Family Service Toronto. New programs are added to tackle emerging needs, often having overcome financial challenges first. FST is an organization that ensures our city and our communities are healthy and engaged on a daily basis.

Enhancing Accessibility and Services

FST is rigorous in assessing and improving the accessibility of our programs and services, working to reduce barriers to inclusion for individuals and families. FST can be found in all thirteen of the priority neighbourhoods across Toronto, responding to the needs of local residents; but the unmet need is significant and growing, as our waiting lists demonstrate. FST is working with partner agencies to open community service hubs in seven of the priority neighbourhoods to ensure every person has access to multi-lingual programming and services where and when they need it.

Diversifying Social Advocacy

For almost a century FST has been a leader in social justice work in Toronto. As a founding member of United Way Toronto, we keep the pulse of the city through our active social reform program. The impact of our co-ordination of Campaign 2000, a nation-wide coalition to eradicate child poverty, our voice advocating to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and our ongoing commitment of inclusion of the LGBTQ community is felt across the country; however, the battle continues as new immigrants arrive daily in our city where they struggle against persistent barriers to full participation in daily life. FST is dedicated to increasing the capacity of newcomer communities to bring their voices together to advocate for social justice.

Building Capacity for All

Family Service Toronto has based its work historically on the knowledge and experience gained through our frontline services. This ability to gauge the ever-changing needs of the social service sector enables FST to respond quickly to new challenges faced by the people of Toronto; however, being responsive and effective comes at a price. FST desperately needs to build a sustainable financial structure which enables us to respond with creativity, flexibility and timeliness to the community’s needs for our programs and services. While government funding is important, it is often insufficient and uncertain. To ensure we can roll out and sustain responsive programming efficiently and effectively without cutting services in other areas of the organization, FST requires undesignated funds to create an endowment that will financially support our services for the 21st century.

What your Support Can Accomplish

This 21st Century Endowment Fund will help Family Service Toronto respond to the changing needs of people over the challenging decades ahead. Given the market and social forces on the City of Toronto, FST services must react nimbly and innovatively. This fund will allow us to serve more people, reducing existing wait lists.

Consider donating today.
416.595.9230 x242, 21stinfo@familyservicetoronto.org

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