Executive Director’s Report
2008 AGM
FY 2008 was a very eventful year. There were a lot of changes and completion of projects.
Project Completions
This year we completed the transfer of the Crisis Line to the Saskatoon Mobile Crisis Line and the renovations to the front of our building which made our offices warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It also provided us with more privacy and a better looking office. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped make this possible.
We also completed the revision of our new website which looks a lot more professional than did the old one. We also revised and made additions to our Policy and Procedure Manual as requested by the Ministry of Social Services and added a Board Orientation Manual for new Board Members.
Changes in Staff
This year we had a complete change of staff from the Executive Director through to the Office Manager. As Executive Director I arrived in mid September from Toledo, Ohio after the resignation of Ian Wheeliker who went to Red Deer as Executive Director of a Women’s Shelter.
In April 2008, both Patricia Thompson and Doreen Gramlich tendered their resignations. Patricia went to Red Deer to a women’s shelter as a counselor and Doreen went to work with the Town of Kindersley. I want to thank both Patricia and especially Doreen, who worked so tirelessly for us in the area of fundraising, for their work with the Crisis Center and wish them all the best in their new endeavors.
We now have two new staff members who joined us in late May and mid June 2008. Our new Office Manager is Chantal Huberdeau. Her first day with us was on May 26.
Our new Crisis Counselor and Family Support Coordinator is Katinka Dudragne, who recently graduated from the University of Calgary, Lethbridge Campus, with a Bachelor of Social Work. Katinka started Monday June 16. Welcome Chantal and Katinka.
I want to thank Wendy Sawatsky and Pam Hubjer who helped me a great deal in filling in while we were short staffed. They spent many hours providing office support and some counseling support that was greatly needed for our clients. .
Program
This past fiscal year we saw 439 Initial Contact Clients and 570 follow-up contacts. This is a 12% increase in our Initial contacts compared to FY 2007 and a 61% increase in Client Follow Contacts. This clearly indicates our need to continue our direction in providing short term intervention counseling with our clients, especially in providing help in the area of developing healthy relationships, non-violent communication, and violence prevention and abuse. This past year I’ve made a special effort at working with the High School Counselor, in working with various groups of students in non-violence communication and developing Healthy Relationships.
This past year we have made great strides in finalizing the implementation of the Building Safer Communities Council Protocol that focuses on preventing and responding to violent acts within the community. It addresses the development of a round table case conferencing process to share information to develop safety plans with those persons involved in violent situations. We are in need of finding funding to obtain a Coordinator who can spend more time implementing, expanding the protocol to the various communities in West Central Saskatchewan.
Partnerships
Our work with community partners continues to grow. This year we have worked closely with the Salvation Army Service Extension Unit, the Salvation Army Thrift Store, the Kindersley Integrated Children’s Services, the Food Security Group (including the Food Bank and it’s development), and the Traumatic Events Response Team. The Ministerial Association has invited me be a part of there regular meetings to provided support for their various ministerial projects.
Looking Ahead
This year we will continue to focus on implementing the Building Safer Communities Project and Protocol in various communities in the West Central Region as well as obtaining enough funding to have a coordinator who can spend more time on the implementation of the protocol.
This coming year we hope to offer parenting groups, support groups for abused women, and individual intervention for personal and domestic violence. We will continue to work with our community partners towards supporting healthy family relationships and safe communities.
We will do strategic planning with Board and Staff to begin charting a definitive direction for the next 3 to 5 years. We have new staff with new skills and we will look to expanding our Board for new initiatives and direction through a Board development plan.
In closing, I would like to thank the Board, the staff (past and present), our community partners, our financial partners both individual and corporate for the tremendous support of our work and for helping us build a safer and healthier community in the West Central Region.
Financial data for the year 2007
Revenue:
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2007 Expenses:
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