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Family Service Toronto is seeking client and community input as it develops a new strategic plan to guide its work over the next five years.

Two special events in February at our 355 Church St. office will offer the opportunity to join the conversation about our future work and priorities.

Join us Feb. 7 from 1 to 5 p.m. to hear from seven leaders in the public health, justice, developmental disabilities and community mental health sectors. For details, see the poster: Work worth doing: A dialogue on the future of family services.

An evening dialogue exclusively for clients will be held Feb. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. Child minding and a light supper will be provided. For further details, see the poster: In touch: A dialogue on serving our community.

Winter can be a difficult time for seniors and caregivers who face challenging family dynamics, isolation and loneliness, advise two Family Service Toronto staff members who work with seniors.

“When someone feels lonely, they may have friends and family nearby, but loneliness relates to how they perceive their situation,” according to Counsellor Erin Relyea and community facilitator Maryan Ali.

“Both can have health implications and be as strong a risk factor for dying prematurely as smoking, obesity or lack of physical activity,” they write in a recent toronto.com caregiver column.

One in five Canadians aged 65 or older have indicated that they often feel lonely. Many seniors are at a higher risk for isolation.

Erin has worked as a social worker and counsellor with FST’s Seniors and Caregivers Support Services team for the last two years.

She is currently the Project Co-ordinator for the Caring for Caregivers project, funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to deliver free educational workshops to those who are caring for a senior (55+).

Maryan Ali is the Somali community facilitator for FST’s Caring for Caregivers project and the Seniors Community Connections program.

Copies of our annual audited financial statements and 2018-19 Annual Report are available for download or online reading.

The report lists our programs and services and provides statistics on our work and community outreach.

Funders and donors are also highlighted in addition to revenues and expenses for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. 

December is an important month for raising awareness of gender-based violence in Canada and around the world.

It is every woman’s fundamental right to live in safety and security in her home and community – free from the threat of violence, sexual assault, elder abuse and other forms of aggression.

About one third of all women worldwide experience either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization.

Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence begins Nov. 25 with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends Dec. 10, with International Human Rights Day. Also included in the 16 days are International Women Human Rights Defenders Day on November 29; World AIDS Day on December 1 and Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on Dec. 6 – when in 1989, 14 women were murdered because they were women.

In 2019, the theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, is Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape! Earlier this year, Family ServiceToronto Counsellor Rabila Attai, who works with our Violence Against Women unit, spoke to Afghan men and women, about gender-based violence. See an excerpt of her speech and transcript.

Ageism is the most socially accepted, normalized and tolerated form of discrimination today. It is the stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups based on their age.

Ageism, like racism and sexism stems, from the assumption that all people of a group (i.e. older people) are the same. Within the workplace, older adults are less likely to be hired, receive training and experience more discrimination than their younger colleagues.

Finding ways to combat ageism in the workplace is the focus of a month-long campaign launched by the City of Toronto in partnership with the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE).

Start a conversation about ageism by sharing the campaign’s “Aging Cream” ageism awareness video which was shot at Family Service Toronto’s downtown office podium.

For more on the campaign and to learn how you can help, visit TorontoForAll.ca.

November 20 marks Transgender Day of Remembrance – a memorial in which we remember the lives lost to transphobic and transmisogynist violence.  Trans lives – and particularly the lives of trans women of colour and sex workers – are disproportionately at risk due to transphobic and transmisogynist violence.

Today, we honour and remember the people we have lost this year, and send our love to those we lost before.  In solidarity with our clients, staff, community colleagues, family and friends, DKS and Family Service Toronto feel it is important to remember trans lives that have been lost, as well as reflect on the successes, strength and courage of trans communities, and take this day to renew our continued commitment to combat systemic transphobia and transmisogyny.

More information on the history of Transgender Day of Remembrance, and an image gallery of Transgender Day of Remembrance events held around the world can be found here: http://www.wipeouttransphobia.com/information/tdor/

More than 15 Hispanic members of FST’s Seniors and Caregivers Support Service (SCSS) program toured the national historic site of Fort York earlier this month to learn about Canada’s largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings and 1813 battle site.

The participants also learned about the history of Toronto through audio-visual presentations and were able to interact by asking questions.

FST’s SCSS unit works with older people and caregivers providing counselling, group work, advocacy, training and educational sessions on a variety of topics such as aging and memory loss, anger and guilt, how to access community resources, abuse of older adults, etc. The program offers sessions in English and Spanish.

Congratulations to Team FST, which raised $3,780 – more than 50 per cent over its target of $2,500 – in the CN Tower Stair Climb for United Way on Nov 3.

The funds will go towards Family Service Toronto’s staff campaign in support of United Way Greater Toronto. FST has set a 2019 campaign target of $25,000.

FST had 14 registered climbers in the weekend event.

Family Service Toronto offers a weekly free single-session counselling session with a trained counsellor or psychotherapist.

The sessions are offered Wednesdays from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. to individuals, couples and families on a first-come first-served basis at 355 Church Street.

A session lasts about 50 minutes and is open to all persons 18 years of age and older, who live or work in the GTA. Appointments are not necessary and no health card or identification is required. Clients are expected to complete a service agreement form and a questionnaire that enables staff to best meet needs.

Sessions are not open to children and child care is not provided.

Registration begins at 3 p.m. and ends at 6:15 with the last appointment at 6:30 p.m. Note that capacity varies week to week depending on demand.

Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and in four days, polls will open for Canada’s 43^rd federal election.

This year also marks 30 years since each federal party represented in the House of Commons committed to ending child poverty by the year 2000. There is no better time than the October 21 election to hold every party accountable to that commitment.

Campaign 2000 has released the answers received from the political parties regarding their plans on eradicating child and family poverty in Canada.  Read full post on Campaign 2000 website.

Child and family poverty has dropped significantly across Canada since 2015, but the problem persists in all 338 federal ridings as the country heads towards a federal election Oct. 21, reports Campaign 2000, a non-partisan coalition of 120 groups and individuals committed to ending child poverty and co-ordinated by Family Service Toronto.

“Child and family poverty is a reality in every single riding in the country,” says Leila Sarangi, Campaign 2000’s National Co-ordinator. “Given Canada’s wealth, no child should go to bed hungry,” she adds. “With every riding affected by poverty, every candidate of every party should be talking about how they will tackle it.”

“In Toronto, 14 of our 25 federal ridings have the highest rate of child poverty,” says Sarangi. “Modest decreases are not good enough.”

Campaign 2000 has written to all party leaders asking them to respond by Oct. 10 on how they would fight poverty in Canada. Their responses will be posted on the Campaign 2000 website before the election.

Campaign 2000 was formed in the early 1990s to urge governments to deliver on an all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty by year 2000.

Child poverty by federal riding: the work ahead for Canada’s next Parliament report.

Toronto Star: Oct 7, 2019 – 338 Ridings, One Issue All federal parties have stake in helping eradicate poverty, report says