A new month and new year brings the opportunity to join one of Family Service Toronto’s several Winter virtual workshops or groups.

Among the virtual groups open for registration are Co-parenting: Embracing the Ebbs and Flows (sliding scale fee) for parents wanting to develop an understanding of healthy co-parenting strategies, Developmental Disabilities Resource Workshop for families and community members interested in learning more about the sector and El Camino a Casa, a weekly program for Spanish-speaking seniors who want to speak about the experience of immigration to Canada.

Our David Kelley Services Program is also offering a free Wellness Group for self-identified male (18 +) survivors of sexual abuse who seek support to deal with the impact of unwanted sexual experiences, whether recent or from years ago.

Counselling and group sessions by phone have also resumed for the new year.

See our Virtual Workshops and Groups page for current groups and upcoming sessions or call 416-595-9618 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to book a virtual counselling session.

Best wishes for a safe and joyous holiday season and a happy new year from everyone at Family Service Toronto.

FST offices will operate on regular business hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 23-24, and 30-31. Offices will be closed Dec. 25-26 and reopen Dec. 27. Offices will be closed Jan. 1, 2025, and resume regular business hours Jan. 2.

FST’s Virtual Walk-in Clinic will be open Dec. 23 and closed from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2, 2025. The clinic will resume regular operations Friday, Jan. 3.

FST’s weekly Thursday In-person Single Session Walk-in at 355 Church Street will be closed Dec. 26 and Jan 2. It will resume regular operations Jan. 9.

Please note the Victoria Park Hub will be closed Dec. 23 to Jan 3 and reopen Jan. 6, 2025.

If you are in crisis during the holiday period, please call:

Distress Centre – 416-408-HELP (4357)

Assaulted Women’s Helpline – 416-863-0511 or 1-866-863-0511

Gerstein Centre – Crisis line 416-929-5200 

Community Information and Toronto Community Crisis 211 or go to 211Toronto.ca

Canada has received a failing grade in the 2024 Disability Poverty Report Card for its inadequate efforts to address disability poverty.

The  2^nd annual report card, released Dec. 3 in in recognition of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), was co-authored by the advocacy group Disability Without Poverty and Campaign 2000, a non-partisan, pan-Canadian network of 120 national, provincial and community partner organizations committed to working to end child and family poverty, hosted by Family Service Toronto.

The report underscores how current measures fail to address the root causes of disability poverty in Canada and highlights the urgent need to strengthen the Canada Disability Benefit to ensure it delivers meaningful support and significantly reduces poverty among people with disabilities.

“Today’s report card underscores the failure of the federal government to address disability poverty,” said Rabia Khedr, National Director of Disability Without Poverty. “A $200 Canada Disability Benefit is inadequate. We are calling on the government to triple the benefit in 2025. This will be a better start toward ending disability poverty.”

The report card finds people with disabilities experience disproportionately higher rates of poverty. There is a trend across most indicators of rising poverty rates and deeper levels of poverty in 2021 and 2022 after significant reductions in 2020.

Visit https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/ to read the full report card and principles/recommendations.

Friday (Dec. 6) is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women to recognize the 14 women killed and those injured 35 years ago at l’Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal.

It is a day to pay tribute to the memory of the murdered women and others who have experienced or who have died because of gender-based violence (GBV) and reminds us that we must continue our important work to eliminate GBV and bring hope to all those impacted by it.

It is also a reminder of the work of our Violence Against Women program and its current social media postings aligned with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign which started Nov. 25 and runs until Tuesday (Dec. 10) – International Human Rights Day.

Our VAW team is highlighting client voices on our social media channels every day of the campaign. Clients are sharing their thoughts anonymously on what they would like to advocate for in the fight against gender-based violence. 

Check out the campaign on X (formerly Twitter),  Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Use the #IWouldLikeToAdvocateFor to share your support for the campaign.

It is every woman’s fundamental right to live and feel safe in her home and community, and to have the freedom to make choices that are best for herself and her dependents.   As we continue to engage, fight against violence, and advocate for systemic changes, we want to uplift the voices of our clients who have lived experience, and to support them in sustaining a life free from threats and acts of violence.  

The 2023-24 Annual Femicide List prepared by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH) reports 62 women and children were killed through gender-based violence between Nov. 26, 2023 and Nov. 25, 2024.

Read statement on Women and Gender Equality Canada

The federal government needs to step up its efforts to end poverty, according to this year’s national poverty report card from Campaign 2000, a non-partisan coalition of 120 groups and individuals co-ordinated by Family Service Toronto.

It’s been 35 years since the federal government promised to uphold children’s rights by ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and passing a unanimous resolution in the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000.

Campaign 2000 is commemorating this anniversary with the release of their suite of national, provincial, territorial and Toronto child and family poverty report cards.

The national report card titled Ending Child Poverty: The Time is Now found that in the last two years, Canada experienced record increases in the rates of child and family poverty, of nearly five percentage points in total.  That means an additional 360,000 children fell into poverty – in total, nearly 1.4 million children were living in poverty in 2022 or roughly one in five children.

The report card – the last to be released before the next federal election – is a call to action and includes 58 bold but achievable community-driven recommendations spanning social and economic equity, income security, decent work, housing, childcare, public health and more.

Want to read more? Go to Campaign 2000 report card news page.

People Minded Business has been selected as the successful proponent for Family Service Toronto’s recent Request for Proposals (RFP) for the provision of consulting services to develop our 2026-2031 Strategic Plan.

The RFP was released Aug. 9, 2024, with a submissions deadline of Sept. 12, 2024. It attracted significant interest from a diverse range of highly qualified consulting firms.

A thorough evaluation process was conducted to reach a final decision, and we thank all applicants for their submissions. 

Stay tuned for updates as we embark on this exciting journey to create a 2026-2031 Strategic Plan that is measurable, visionary and grounded in the lives of the people we serve.

It’s not too late to register for one of Family Service Toronto’s several virtual or in-person workshops or groups this Fall.

Among the groups open for registration are:

• Virtual Economic Abuse workshop and Nervous System Reset group offered by our Violence Against Women program
• Virtual Group for Emotional Regulation through our Counselling Program Workshops and groups
• Blending Families (virtual) and the Wave (In-person) offered through our Families in Transition workshops and groups
• Camps Information sessions (virtual) – under Options Children Workshops and Groups

See our Virtual Workshops and Groups page for current groups and upcoming sessions.

In-person single walk-in counselling sessions are available Thursdays at our 355 Church Street location. For more Information,go to Single Session Walk-in Counselling.

All FST offices will be closed until 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10 for a staff event.

Regular office hours will resume at 1:30 p.m. for all programs and services.

The Thursday in-person single session walk-in counselling service at our 355 Church Street location will continue with its regular Thursday schedule from 3 to 7 p.m.

Copies of our 2023-24 Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements are now available for download or online reading.

The annual report lists our programs and client services and provides statistics on our work and community outreach. It also describes our work through the year and addresses organizational highlights and changes.

Funders and donors are also highlighted in addition to revenues and expenses for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. FST will hold its 110^th onsite Annual Members Business Meeting on Wednesday, Sept.18 at 6 p.m. at 355 Church St., Toronto. For more information, please email [email protected]

The federal government has designated September 30 as a day to honour the children who never returned home and survivors of native residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

We join in the public commemoration of this significant day to recognize the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools. For those of us who are settlers on Turtle Island, it is an opportunity to renew our commitment to the ongoing and important work of Truth and Reconciliation. And it allows us time for reflection on our individual efforts to address decolonizing practice and confront white supremacy.

This recognition represents a small step in the journey to fulfill the commitments and 94 calls to action made in 2015 by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is a collective endeavour requiring active participation from all of us. Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place Sept 30.

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

On Sept. 30, Canadians are encouraged to wear orange to honour the thousands of residential school survivors. It also provides a moment to explore the rich and diverse cultures, voices, experiences and stories of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Start your learning journey here.

Discover the visual elements of the Truth and Reconciliation image at this link.

Family Service Toronto has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the provision of consulting services to develop FST’s 2026-2031 Strategic Plan. 

The RFP was released Friday, Aug. 9, 2024 and proposals will be accepted until 5 PM Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.

Questions and answers related to the RFP are available at this link.

Proponents are requested to send their proposals in electronic format to Shawn West, Director of Finance [email protected]  with the subject line “Proposal – Strategic Planning Services.”

A contract will be awarded in October with a timeframe of eight months for completion. Further details are available in the RFP document.

The Honourable Michael Parsa, Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, visited FST’s 355 Church Street location on Aug. 6 for an overview of agency initiatives and current reform efforts in the Developmental Services sector including its Journey to Belonging focus.

“It was a productive information session with the Minister and an opportunity for him to learn about initiatives such as our social purpose real estate and evolution of the Citywide Commons,” said Executive Director Chris Brillinger. “That’s a great story of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) adaptation and innovation post pandemic.  We also focussed on Passport, PassportONE and DS case management.” 

In addition to Chris the meeting included Anna Zhang, Chief Administrative Officer; Leila Sarangi, Senior Director, Strategy and Innovation; and Brian Porter, Director of Communications and Special Projects.