Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto
Providing Programs And Services To Women In Conflict With The Law Since 1952
Annual Report
2001
(April 1, 2000 - March 31, 2001)
Officers
| President | Cori Kalinowski |
| Vice President | Elizabeth Boyd |
| Chair Person | Sue Nador |
| Treasurer | Sheena Kotecha |
Directors
| Avil Beckford | Denise Jeffers |
| Jill Copeland | Raiza Kolia |
| Kim Crozier | Shoshana Pollack |
| Carolyn Fineberg | Linda Zaks Walker |
| Jaki Freeman |
Staff 2001/2002
| Executive Director | Leslie Kelman |
| Financial Administrator | Elly Vlietman |
| Office Manager | Camella Jones-Phillip |
| Receptionist | Nancy Pimentel |
| Community Programs Manager | Martha Arbuthnot |
| Parenting Program Counsellors | Alma Aiken |
| Sherrette Thomas | |
| Drug and Alcohol Counsellor | Laurie Charlton |
| Sexual Abuse Counsellor | Elizabeth Amerongen |
| Shoplifting /Fraud Counsellor | Gillian Crawford |
| Diversion Courtworker
(College Park Court) | Eugenia Messner |
| Volunteer Programs Coordinator | Cheryl Champagne*/ Marsha RayDragan |
| Residential Supervisor | Nzinga Walker |
| Residential Asst. Supervisor | Andrea Slack |
| Residential Counsellors | Margaret Arnason |
| Dorrette Barnes | |
| Lyn Genereux | |
| Maryam Salad | |
| Julianne Smith | |
| Coordinator of Community Relations and Fundraising | Nancy Webb |
| Director of Development | Jonathan Rudin/Barbara Yip |
* resigned during the year
History and Mission
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto is a woman-centred, non-profit organization
that represents and fosters the community's interest in and responsibility to
women who are, have been, or may come into conflict with the law. Founded in
the early 1950s, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto was named after the
nineteenth century English reformer of the penal system whose work among the
women and children of Newgate prison began a long tradition of addressing the
special needs of incarcerated women.
The agency offers transitional accommodation, counselling services, a court program at College Park Court, and facilities for research and education. Our volunteers and staff regularly visit the Metro West Detention Centre, Vanier Centre for Women and Grand Valley Institute.
Our mission is to facilitate the empowerment of women and to address the reasons why women come into conflict with the law by:
- facilitating choices and opportunities for individual women;
- affecting systemic change of social conditions, laws and structures;
- promoting a system of justice that leads to the healing of society and responds to the needs of all women involved in and affected by crime;
- ensuring that in all its operations, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto embraces the diverse racial and cultural backgrounds of the people it represents and serves.
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto is a member of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) and of the Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario. There are currently 24 Elizabeth Fry Societies across Canada including nine in Ontario.
Executive Director's Report
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff, volunteers, board,
donors and members, who have given so much to the agency over the past year.
During this year we were presented with many challenges that were new to the agency:
- the building of a provincial "superjail" in Milton which will force all provincially sentenced women to serve their sentences away from their home communities and keep them warehoused in a jail built to hold thousands of inmates
- the announcement of a privatized jail in Penetanguishene which allows our justice system to be operated as a for-profit industry
- 40% fewer provincially incarcerated women receiving parole compared to 1995 statistics
- development of a maximum security unit at Grand Valley Institute which ignores the Creating Choices document that served as the model for the 5 new regional facilities for women
Each of these issues illustrates a growing belief in the "Law and Order" agenda that is sweeping Canada and other countries.
The people who work with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto have remained steadfast in "promoting a system of justice that leads to the healing of society and responds to the needs of all people involved in and affected by crime." 1
I am inspired by the support we have received during a time when providing assistance to people in the criminal justice system is an unpopular position. I am inspired by the members of the community who recognize that the community cannot abandon those who are the most disenfranchised. I am inspired by the staff and volunteers who have withstood public criticism for their work and belief in a system of healing, not punishment. Finally, I am inspired by the women who are living in the correctional system, powerless and vulnerable, yet still determined to build better lives for themselves and their families.
Alternatives to incarceration remain a primary goal of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto. This will only be accomplished when the community joins us in the development of meaningful, progressive alternatives.
As we renew our commitment to community education, social action, and ongoing
involvement in the lives of women in conflict with the law, we are determined to
raise our voices louder and more often to speak for those who cannot speak for
themselves. By defending their rights, we defend our own.
Community Programs Report
As you will notice, we have changed the name of our department from Direct
Services to Community Programs. We believe this will help make a clear
presentation of the agency as we talk about our two areas of service:
Residential Programs and Community Programs.
Community Programs have completed a busy and successful year, offering group and individual counseling to women who are, have been or are at risk of conflict with the law. This work was also aided by students from Centennial College, York University and Ryerson University who are completing their practicums.
We have been able to enhance our services within the Drug and Alcohol Program, to include a focus on Hepatitis C outreach prevention and education. This much needed work with community agencies and women with few resources who may live on the street, is supported by a grant from Health Canada. This has enabled us to hire an outreach counsellor and the agency's first peer support worker. It is hoped this new experience will assist us in developing a peer support component to our volunteer services in the near future. The women attending the Thelma and Louize Harm Reduction Group enjoyed a beautiful summer day at the annual outing to Centre Island. With the facilitators, the women plan and participate in a recreational activity that is both safe and fun.
Our Parenting Program provides individual and group counselling to mothers incarcerated at Vanier Centre for Women and Toronto West Detention Centre, and those living in the community. We have noted an increase in mothers involved with the family court system and have attempted to respond through a cooperative effort with the child welfare system. A guest presenter from child welfare attends a session to explain the workings of this system, including a focus on parental rights and responsibilities. Our successes are noted in anecdotal evidence of: improved relationships between mothers and their children, and mothers and their child welfare workers; children returning home to their families; mothers increasing contact with their children in care; and, families who are no longer needing the intervention services of child welfare.
We are working on creating a new program for women being charged within domestic violence situations. We have been working closely with Woman Abuse Council of Toronto to create a partner intervention program that would help women address issues related to domestic violence and emotions management. We will also assist the Council with tracking this growing phenomenon, since the majority of cases appear to be as a result of women taking measures to defend themselves from continued physical and verbal violence from their partners.
We have also had increased requests from the criminal and family court systems to provide anger management programs for women. We are seeking funding sources for this much needed program. In the interim, we have been providing this service to women through individual counseling services.
Our remaining Community Programs, Sexual Abuse, Shoplifting and Fraud, and Adult Diversion programs continue to be active in meeting the growing needs of the community.
In the coming year we hope to finalize our contract with the Woman Abuse Council
and to provide a partner intervention program for women charged in domestic
violence situations. We will also attempt to acquire funding to provide an
anger management program for women, and to increase our funding base for all our
community programs. We will also begin working with the United Way on the
Program Effectiveness Organizational Development project.
Residence Program Report
This past year we have continued to face an unprecedented low rate of release of
women from the provincial prison system. This has been both a philosophical and
financial challenge for the agency and we remain steadfast in our efforts to
lobby for women in the provincial system. Federally, there has been a
consistent release rate from Grand Valley Institution for Women, allowing us to
continue to operate all our programs.
Grand Valley has a growing population of women with mental health issues and their release to our halfway house has created new training needs for the staff. Our mother and child program continues to fully operate. In addition to providing support to the new mothers the program has a satellite location which has a two-bedroom apartment located in close proximity to the residence. During this past year we had one infant who was born in the institution. Additionally, Correctional Services Canada has allowed the satellite to be used by women whose children were not born in the institution, when it is not being utilized by a new mother. Male children must be under the age of twelve and female children must be under the age of sixteen to be admitted to the satellite. Since this criteria came in effect we have been able to offer a wider range of services for federally sentenced women.
Our residential staff continues to access opportunities to develop their
counselling and advocacy skills as well as to broaden their work in assisting
women's re-integration into the community. One of our staff received training
to run the Correctional Services' CHOICES program and the staff continues to
provide on-to-one and group support for women with addiction issues. In
addition to increasing skills, our staff have successfully advocated on behalf
of women in conflict with the law, with a number of agencies and institutions
to provide community support. We have furthered our work in building strong and
effective community resources and look forward to developing additional linkages
in the upcoming year.
Resource Development Report
It is important for us to acknowledge the support we receive each year from many
individuals and foundations because their support is crucial to the health of
the organization. We never take for granted the donations and bequests we
receive. These funds allow us to continue the work we do. We know that issues
regarding women in conflict with the law are not often high profile and can be
seen as controversial. The fact that hundreds of people a year recognize the
importance of our work and show that recognition by way of donations is very
much appreciated.
Direct-mail campaigns continue to be an important part of our fundraising efforts. Despite the increased competition for direct mail dollars, the Elizabeth Fry Society is very fortunate to have committed supporters who generously donate to one or more of our three direct mail appeals, raising a total of approximately $40,000 each year.
The generous support of a number of charitable foundations allowed us to continue to provide important programs as well as support for our general operating expenses. In terms of program support, we are particularly grateful for the ongoing support of the Community Foundation of Greater Toronto. This foundation continues to provide funding for our counselling group for women who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Our eighth annual Rebels For a Cause event in May 2000, raised over $15,000 while providing us with the opportunity to honour four outstanding women of achievement. This year's honoured Rebels were: dub-poet and activist Lillian Allen, crusader for women's rights Jane Doe; star of the Royal Canadian Air Farce Luba Goy; and tireless advocate for the wrongfully convicted Joyce Milgaard. As always the speeches from the honorees came from the heart and were touching, inspiring, funny, motivating and just heart-warming. Hosting duties for the evening were provided brilliantly again by Sensible Footwear. Thanks to all the individuals and corporations who donated highly sought-after goods to the silent auction component of the evening.
We were very fortunate to continue to receive funds from bequests this year. The fact that people take the time to remember the work of our organization in their wills is humbling. Often the bequests we receive come from people whose direct or significant involvement with the organization was years and years ago. Such bequests remind us that the impact of the work we do can indeed last a lifetime - and thanks to the bequest - the support we receive lasts beyond a lifetime.
We are pleased that our organization's involvement as one of 55 charitable sponsors at Delta St.Clair Bingo Hall continues to reap a healthy harvest. We wish to acknowledge the hard work of our dedicated group of bingo volunteers who faithfully run an average of three bingo sessions each month at the hall.
We would like to extend a special thank you to E. Fry's small core of monthly
donors who support our work year-round by contributing on a monthly basis, and
to our in-kind donors who donate products and services to our agency. Everyone
has been very Instrumental in enabling us to continue our efforts to help women
in conflict with the law.
Volunteer Programs Report
Our volunteer programs continue to provide an enormous contribution to our
agency. In recognition of the significant social and economic contributions of
volunteers worldwide, the United Nations General Assembly has declared the year
2001 International Year of Volunteers. Volunteers contribute an estimated 16
billion annually, or 8 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product, and 1.1
billion hours of their time yearly, the equivalent of 578,000 full-time jobs.
Our Volunteer Programs includes our College Park Court and Metro West Detention Centre programs. We also include those who participate in special events. This year our volunteers provided approximately 4,034 hours to approximately 2,667 women. These are incredibly impressive numbers when you consider that 84 volunteers delivered that service.
At College Park Court, volunteers are asked to keep records of the number of clients they approach or assist, and the number of referrals to other agencies. We count all those they approach, whether the volunteers provide general information about other agencies, discuss the programs at court or discuss our programs at E.Fry. The total number of clients approached was 2,059. We also keep a record of the clients the volunteers actually assist. This type of relationship tends to require more of the volunteers' time, but it is the kind of work they enjoy because they can spend more time with the clients and can often remain with them until they leave court. Since we often have two volunteers for each three hour shift Monday to Friday, another volunteer will continue to support others at court. Our volunteers personally assisted 1,349 people this year. Referrals to other agencies such as to shelters, and to other programs at court including the Mental Health Diversion Program, Victim Witness Assistance Program, and the Bail Program are important ways in which we can determine the needs of our clients. Our 15 volunteers made 430 referrals and gave 729 hours of their time.
We have continued to implement a new feature of our court program, which we call our Court Accompaniment Program. Requests come in from members of our staff asking for a volunteer to accompany a client to court. That client usually needs someone to sit with her in court and provide emotional support, as well as providing information on the ongoing court procedures. Some of the courts we frequent are Old City Hall, Scarborough Court, Finch Court, the East Mall Court and College Park Court. We are fortunate to have eight volunteers who perform this service. They provided accompaniment to approximately 18 clients and contributed 56 hours. We have received a few requests for accompaniments to other locations such as to a dentist office, to a client's appointment with her probation officer, and to their appointments at government offices. Our volunteers continue to support these programs in addition to their regular on- going volunteer responsibilities.
Since April 2000, our volunteers at the Metro West Detention Centre have had to cope with a 12 hour lock down, which meant that our social program ran from 6:30-7:30pm., a full one hour less than expected. While those changes significantly impacted the program, we were able to offer the program to 563 women. Twenty-four volunteers gave 490 hours to this program. The impending move to Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton scheduled for late fall 2001 or early 2002, will create some challenges to our programs. At times like these, we come to understand the incredible strength and commitment that our volunteers have to the agency and to our clients.
Often we have volunteers who chose to participate in our special events, such as fundraising events, our annual general meeting and other events. At our Rebels event, six volunteers performed 50 hours of service, which helped us significantly in the production of this event. Last year it was mentioned that our volunteers were helpful in the International Conference on Penal Abolition (ICOPA) spearheaded by Rittenhouse. Our statistics show that nine volunteers performed 124 hours of service. This is in addition to the many volunteer hours they already contribute to the agency. We continue to rely heavily on the resources that come into the agency through Bingo, which brought in over $54,000 this year. Our Bingo volunteers contributed 528 hours of service to the program. Those who sit on our Board of Directors provide us with guidance and continually offer their support. Our 15 volunteer board members performed 477 hours of service this year. And one volunteer spent 192 hours this year assisting us with our office administrative responsibilities.
Even as we continue to be successful with our volunteer programs, there is
always something more we could be doing. In the near future, we would like to
offer orientation and training to many that have demonstrated an interest in
volunteering for our agency. Once we are able to get our program back to full
capacity, we are hoping to continue to reach out to more women who are at risk
of coming into conflict with the law. Our volunteers continue to be a source of
strength for this agency, and we continue to be pleased by their acts of
kindness and generosity that they demonstrate to our clients who often feel
isolated and marginalized.
Our Donors
Without the continuous support of the many individuals and organizations that
have supported the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto over the years, the agency
would be unable to continue to provide the wide array of programs and services
that we offer to women in conflict with the law. Due to space limitations we
are unable to list everyone's name but for each and every gift we are extremely
grateful. Listed below are our supporters who have donated $300 or more to our
organization during our past fiscal year, April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001. Also
listed are our supporters who provide ongoing funding by donating to us on a
monthly basis, and our Gift In Kind donors who donated either a product or
provided a service to us, valued at $300 or more, over the past year.
BEQUESTS
Muriel Elaine Allan
FOUNDATIONS/TRUSTS
Arthur Andersen Charitable Foundation
Bennett Family Foundation
Chum Charitable Foundation
Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation
Nelson Arthur Hyland Foundation
Sophie and Gwen Boyd Memorial Trust
Toronto Community Foundation of Greater Toronto
GROUPS
Fairlawn Heights United Church Women
The Sisterhood of St. John the Devine
GIFTS IN KIND
Ashley's China
Bond Boyd & Co.
Esther Myers' Yoga Studio
Michelle Mauge
Penguin Canada
Senator Restaurant
Sony of Canada
Malcolm Swartz
The Fifth
INDIVIDUALS
Signe Ball
Paul Bennett
Christie Bentham
George and Martha Butterfield
Margaret Chambers
Ruth Cowan
Joe Essaye
Jane Glassco
William Grey
Joan Harrison
Errol Lewars
Marjorie Lewis
Donald E. Morrison
Mary Morrison
David Murray
Diana Sepejak
Margaret Shepherd
Cathy Shilton
Sonja Smits
Earl L. Veitch
Monthly Donors
Elizabeth Anderson
Perin and Yezdi Antia
Joanne Bacon
Mary Beam
Tracy Cook
Paul Connelly
John Fruhwirth
Doug and Yvonne Greig
Susan Hoyle-Howieson
Barbara Kerslake
Nancy Kleer
Sandra Leonard
Arlene Levin
Marilyn Lightstone
Carol McPhail
Jay MacPherson
Alice Mawhinney
Rosemary Oliver
Helen Parrish
Ron Philipp
Lynne Remigio
Margaret Shepherd
Catherine Shilton
Sonja Smits
Margaret Sumadh
Antje Tyedmers
Victor Woods