AGM 2009 - FST President's Message
Harlan Schonfeld, FST President of the Board
My name is Harlan Schonfeld and I have the pleasure of being the president of the Board of Directors of this venerable and enduring organization. It is wonderful to see so many familiar faces here today. Thank you for joining us. Your participation in today’s celebration of our work of the past year reflects what wonderful supporters we really have!
I feel a tremendous affinity for FST’s values of …inclusion… access….equity… capacity-building… these are not merely concepts. They are tangible realities that live and breathe in this organization every single day.
I am proud of FST’s commitment to support individuals and families who are struggling… people who may feel that they have nowhere to turn until they find us and their lives change for the better.
When I see the impact this organization has on so many different people - from newcomers who are building new lives in Toronto, to older people who have lived their entire lives in this city - I truly believe that FST’s work makes it a better city for us all. Here are just a few highlights.
Our various programs and services span the city and are delivered in 14 languages. Last year through our community and employee assistance programs, we touched the lives of 63,334 people, delivering 107,256 hours of service in the form of prevention, community-building and counselling. The impact of our work on the city of Toronto last year is beautifully described in the current edition of our Catalyst Magazine. I encourage you to take it home and read it from cover to cover. It is a testament to the tremendous achievements of all our service units, highlighted by personal profiles and stories. In addition, you will find our Annual Report tucked into Catalyst, providing a complementary statistical and financial snapshot of 2008-2009.
These tremendous results are reflective of a dedicated and hard-working staff of 156 people who work in several locations across the city. Your commitment is truly inspiring and I congratulate you all! But…we couldn’t have done this work alone. This past year 338 volunteers contributed 9,177 hours and 26 students who were placed with FST, contributed 5,843 hours. We thank each and every one of our volunteers and students who shared their exuberance and energy and gave so generously of their time!
2008 has been a year of ongoing reflection and intentional action as we prepared to launch our new strategic directions for the next three years. Through our strategic planning process we worked to build on our strengths to ensure that our ability to support vulnerable people continued to be vigorous and focused for the next several years.
This year has also been an important one as we continue our journey to understand more deeply what it means to work from an inclusion and equity framework. We use inclusion, equity and access as a lens through which we evaluate our work, create our strategic plan and express our core values. The board invested their monthly educational sessions and retreat time to hearing from experts on various aspects of access and equity issues. Time was spent in earnest discussion about how to keep this moving forward and in sync with our ever-changing city.
The board also traveled a long way on the journey to better governance in 2008. Constantly seeking processes to heighten engagement and exercise excellent accountability in a democratic organization, we examined our governance model and revised our governance policies accordingly. Yes, there is life after Carver! The board continues to evolve and is reveling in the richness and complexities of its ongoing journey of self discovery.
We are grateful to all our donors, funders and partners, and in particular United Way Toronto. Donations and funding support helps us make a difference in people’s lives and allows us to keep the lights on at the same time.
And, finally, thank you for being here tonight, to share in FST’s vision and to show your ongoing confidence in our work. We are a strong and vibrant agency because of your personal investment in us.
