Talking to kids about poverty during the holiday season is very important, says FST’s Anita Khanna who is quoted in a Canadian Living article on families coping with poverty at this time of year.

“Many low-income people are not connected to family or community,” says Khanna, director of Social Action and Community Building at Family Service Toronto and the national coordinator for Campaign 2000. “If they do have social connections, they may isolate themselves because they can’t afford to give gifts or prepare food to share.”

Parents of children who are more fortunate should have tough conversations about poverty with their kids and explain why their peers may have received more or less than they did, the article recommends.

December 6 is known as Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women.

It is a day to pay tribute to the memory of the murdered women and remind ourselves that we must continue our important work to eliminate violence against women while making our city safer for all residents.

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.

Family Service Toronto has joined 10 community groups this year in releasing an open letter to raise awareness about intimate partner and gender-based violence in Toronto.  It calls on everyone to take action if they suspect someone has experienced abuse and provides a link to online resources at Toronto For All.

November and December are important months for raising awareness of gender-based violence in Canada and around the world. Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence began Nov. 25 with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends Dec. 10, with International Human Rights Day.

The federal government needs to be more ambitious in its poverty reduction targets and timelines, 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.

The new report released Nov. 20 – the United Nations’ Universal Children’s Day – provides a current snapshot of child and family poverty in Canada and demonstrates the need for a costed implementation plan to eradicate child poverty in this generation.

“More than 1.4 million children in Canada still live in poverty nearly 30 years after the 1989 all-party resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000 was passed,” says Campaign 2000 National Co-ordinator Anita Khanna.

“The federal government has made significant investments since 2015 and the Canada Poverty Reduction Strategy (CPRS) is a new starting point in Canada’s battle against poverty – but it is not yet the strategy Canada desperately needs,” she claims, adding the strategy’s targets should be more ambitious, the timelines shorter and the plans to accomplish them transparent.

“Government has committed to reduce poverty by 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2030 – but allowing some 700,000 children in yet another generation to grow up in the hunger, stress and struggle of poverty is unacceptable.”

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.

Five Campaign 2000 provincial partners, including Ontario, also released their annual report cards on child and family poverty on Nov. 20.

Child care called key to ending child poverty, Toronto Star

Perhaps that thought has run through your mind when you have worried that someone close to you might be experiencing abuse.

But why is it not your business?

That’s the focus of our new month-long campaign challenging everyone to take simple actions that could have a big impact in the life of someone experiencing abuse.

The campaign, launched by the City of Toronto in partnership with Family Service Toronto, is designed to raise awareness about intimate partner violence – one of the most common forms of gender-based violence including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviours by an intimate partner(s).

One in three Canadian women have experienced abuse at some point in their life. Addressing intimate partner violence is everyone’s responsibility.

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

Toronto.com: Intimate partner violence focus of public educational campaign

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/

Family Service Toronto launched its staff campaign in support of United Way Greater Toronto on Oct. 16 with a BBQ fundraiser lunch. About 80 staff and guests participated as we revealed this year’s campaign target of $22,500.

FST is also hosting a team in the CN Tower Stair Climb for United Way on Sunday, Nov 25. We invite friends and community members to join the team or sponsor team members here.

Copies of our annual audited financial statements and 2017-18 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, 2018.

Family Service Toronto is pleased to co-present the film adaptation of Far from The Tree – an intimate and profoundly human look at families raising children with extreme differences.

Based on Andrew Solomon’s New York Times bestselling book, the film will screen from Aug. 31 to Sept. 14 at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West in Toronto. Tickets for any of the 20 day and evening screenings can be reserved at their online site.

Subjects covered in the film include a mother and son determined to show the world that his Down syndrome does not define him; a couple learning to communicate with their autistic son; and a young woman dealing with what it means to be the only little person in her family.

Tracing their joys, challenges, and triumphs, this life-affirming film will have you call into question exactly what is means to be “normal.”

Campaign 2000’s latest report reveals a disturbing picture of the magnitude of child poverty in every federal riding. It is a stark portrait of inequality in Canada with high- and low-income families living in close proximity while divided by wide social and economic gaps that leave too many children hungry, sick and stressed beyond their years.
Troublingly, the federal ridings with the highest levels of child and family poverty are home to a higher proportion of Indigenous, racialized and immigrant communities and lone-parent led families.
Campaign 2000 believes that the presence of child and family poverty in every riding in Canada demands strong and decisive federal action through the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy. The report received widespread media coverage and responses from politicians. The Toronto Star printed a feature story and Editorial, while the Globe and Mail and CTV news provided national coverage on the issues and the solutions.

Resources:
Read the full report: Campaign 2000 Riding by Riding Child Poverty Report.
Download and share the C2000 Infographic via social media.

Family Service Toronto held its Annual General Meeting on June 20 at its new downtown office at 355 Church Street.

The event was attended by board members, staff, and visitors and was followed by an Open House and tours of our new facilities. More than 100 community partners, sector friends, former board members and guests joined the celebration and official ribbon-cutting event.

Copies of our annual audited Financial Statements and 2017-2018 Annual Report were distributed and are now available for download or online reading.

Client services will be affected through June 26 as the result of Family Service Toronto’s closure of its 700 Lawrence Avenue West offices and move to Sterling Road and Church Street.

FST’s Options, PDP, Passport, & PassportONE offices will relocate to 202-128A Sterling Road and open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 27.

Staff will be available via telephone and email from June 15 to June 26.

The Families in Transition team will relocate to 355 Church Street and open on Thursday, June 21.

For information and directions consult our locations page.

Family Service Toronto is celebrating the diversity and inclusiveness of the city’s third annual Pride month throughout June and salutes the work of its David Kelley Services unit.

FST’s DKS unit is committed to trauma-informed, anti-oppression practices to help empower LGBTQ+ individuals, couples and families, as well as people living with, affected by or concerned about HIV/AIDS. It also works to enhance participation in LGBTQ+ communities and in the broader society.

A highlight of Pride month is the annual Festival weekend (June 22-24) which culminates in the Pride Parade on Sunday, June 24.

Download the Pride Guide for a full list of events and activities.