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our Board
OUR WRYM PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - YEAR END 2019
Susan Freeman
President
December 2019 - As we come to the close of 2019, it is appropriate to review some achievements so that we can set goals for the future.
New in 2019, Windsor Residence for Young Men, the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) and its Public Alternative Secondary School (P.A.S.S.) announced the launch of the Youth Independence Program - a classroom-based curriculum that will teach life skills to youth aged 16-24, regardless of gender, who wish to become self-reliant, gain a secondary school credit, and receive educational guidance, optional entry into paid employment training, and referrals to community support. In June, the program received a grant of $26,186 from the WindsorEssex Community Foundation in partnership with Green Shield Canada as part of the national Six 4 Six Community Granting Initiative Program.
Thanks to the hard work of WRYM’s volunteers and community partners, our public awareness and fundraising events, such as the WRYM Charity Golf Tournament, Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser events, Coldest Night Out, Home Depot/Orange Door in-store fundraisers, Tours & Talks, and such online appeals such as Invest in Citizenship, #GivingTuesday, and Happy Holidays have had reasonable degrees of success and are essential in maintaining our community goodwill and contacts. However, publicity events and online appeals are not and never will be sufficient to fully fund and maintain WRYM’s services to homeless youth.
WRYM depends on a loyal circle of individual and corporate supporters, donors and volunteers, often long-time associates, who were recruited and are maintained through personal relationships with WRYM board and staff members. Personal recognition helps to maintain these relationships. For example, Tom Marshall of Colautti Brothers Marble Tile and Carpet (1985) Inc. is this year’s recipient of Community Awareness Award for his renovations to the residence, while WRYM’s Heart & Soul Award for exceptional individual volunteer effort was presented to Joel Thibodeau, owner of the local My Green Knight franchise for his tireless leadership of WRYM’s Kids Next Door program.
Although community generosity has funded WRYM to date, fundraising sufficient to meet service costs is a constant and stressful challenge. We must strategically focus our efforts to recruit new and maintain existing community sponsors, partners, and associated private foundation funding, legacy giving, third party campaigning and other such substantial support. Additionally, in the face of past government and community funding freezes, caps and cutbacks for social services, we must redouble our efforts to strategically reach out to our agency peers, government funders, and social service administrators for practical recognition that they must collaborate with WRYM to meet community needs for transitional housing.
There is a slow improvement in social recognition that young men are not being adequately served. There is also official recognition that collaborations among housing and related services must be improved. An example of such improvement is the City of Windsor’s recent Request for Proposal, Reaching Home Canada’s Homelessness Strategy - a Component of Windsor Essex Housing, which is based on federal government strategy and funding. This request presents WRYM with an opportunity to seek added respect and possible practical support by proposing a Community Access Component based on our proven strengths that would help to partially integrate WRYM into government-
funded service delivery.
To achieve all this, we will need a very strong board with strategic contacts that conducts long-term continuity planning and focussed outreach to select funders, partners, sponsors, major donors, and volunteers.
Thank you for all your efforts to date. The future awaits.
Sincerely,
Susan Freeman
President, Board of Directors
New in 2019, Windsor Residence for Young Men, the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) and its Public Alternative Secondary School (P.A.S.S.) announced the launch of the Youth Independence Program - a classroom-based curriculum that will teach life skills to youth aged 16-24, regardless of gender, who wish to become self-reliant, gain a secondary school credit, and receive educational guidance, optional entry into paid employment training, and referrals to community support. In June, the program received a grant of $26,186 from the WindsorEssex Community Foundation in partnership with Green Shield Canada as part of the national Six 4 Six Community Granting Initiative Program.
Thanks to the hard work of WRYM’s volunteers and community partners, our public awareness and fundraising events, such as the WRYM Charity Golf Tournament, Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser events, Coldest Night Out, Home Depot/Orange Door in-store fundraisers, Tours & Talks, and such online appeals such as Invest in Citizenship, #GivingTuesday, and Happy Holidays have had reasonable degrees of success and are essential in maintaining our community goodwill and contacts. However, publicity events and online appeals are not and never will be sufficient to fully fund and maintain WRYM’s services to homeless youth.
WRYM depends on a loyal circle of individual and corporate supporters, donors and volunteers, often long-time associates, who were recruited and are maintained through personal relationships with WRYM board and staff members. Personal recognition helps to maintain these relationships. For example, Tom Marshall of Colautti Brothers Marble Tile and Carpet (1985) Inc. is this year’s recipient of Community Awareness Award for his renovations to the residence, while WRYM’s Heart & Soul Award for exceptional individual volunteer effort was presented to Joel Thibodeau, owner of the local My Green Knight franchise for his tireless leadership of WRYM’s Kids Next Door program.
Although community generosity has funded WRYM to date, fundraising sufficient to meet service costs is a constant and stressful challenge. We must strategically focus our efforts to recruit new and maintain existing community sponsors, partners, and associated private foundation funding, legacy giving, third party campaigning and other such substantial support. Additionally, in the face of past government and community funding freezes, caps and cutbacks for social services, we must redouble our efforts to strategically reach out to our agency peers, government funders, and social service administrators for practical recognition that they must collaborate with WRYM to meet community needs for transitional housing.
There is a slow improvement in social recognition that young men are not being adequately served. There is also official recognition that collaborations among housing and related services must be improved. An example of such improvement is the City of Windsor’s recent Request for Proposal, Reaching Home Canada’s Homelessness Strategy - a Component of Windsor Essex Housing, which is based on federal government strategy and funding. This request presents WRYM with an opportunity to seek added respect and possible practical support by proposing a Community Access Component based on our proven strengths that would help to partially integrate WRYM into government-
funded service delivery.
To achieve all this, we will need a very strong board with strategic contacts that conducts long-term continuity planning and focussed outreach to select funders, partners, sponsors, major donors, and volunteers.
Thank you for all your efforts to date. The future awaits.
Sincerely,
Susan Freeman
President, Board of Directors
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and he will feed himself for a lifetime.”
OUR 2019 DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS |
President Susan Freeman - Interior Design Consultant |
Vice-President Chase Taylor - Business Development Officer |
Secretary Tim Kavanagh - Assistant Crown Attorney |
Treasurer Bonnie Patrick - Lawyer |
Director David Freeman - Financial Advisor |
Director Rev. Robert Lemon - Priest |
Director Hoang Nguyen - Engineering Student, Past Resident |
Director Dr. Ashley Paterson - Psychologist |
Director Brian Worrall – Consultant, Media Planning & Content |
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Executive Director (Pro Bono) Greg Goulin, LSM, JD |
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WRYM 2018 Year End Statistics
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