Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund Invests in the Black Lives Accessing Care (BLAC) Program
October 29, 2021
In Memory of Shirley Samaroo: A Legacy of Support in the Violence Against Women Sector
November 29, 2021
Fiscal 2020/21 has been a year like no other. We have faced some extraordinary challenges as an organization, and yet we persevered in true Yorktown spirit. As a result, we are happy to celebrate some incredible outcomes despite this being one of our most challenging years to date.
We ended fiscal 2020/21 on the heels of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a worldwide Pandemic, which catapulted our staff into a whirlwind of unexpected program redesign and changes to our operations. As a service agency, our most precious resource is our staff who reorganized their personal and professional lives to meet evolving demands during active times. Staff and management persevered to ensure that clients continue to receive the high quality of care they are accustomed to and that our business continuity remained uncompromised.
Whether it was face-to-face care in our residential Violence against Women (VAW) Services, or frontline community VAW services and frontline Infant, Child & Youth Mental Health Care services offered virtually, our staff remained committed to serving our communities.
There were struggles and losses for so many in the Yorktown community as Covid-19 targeted the most vulnerable of our society—marginalized and racialized groups, Black and Indigenous children, youth and families, and women and children experiencing violence.
Our drop-in programs have historically serviced hundreds in any given year. However, drop-in programs aren’t conducive to an online platform. The social connection that so many of our clients benefited from was compromised by social distancing and states of emergency limiting onsite services.
By necessity and in the midst of unparalleled challenges, innovations emerged and restrictions brought about opportunities to reinvent the services we offer, and how we offer those services. Addressing issues of access continued to be unwavering and one of our guiding principles. With no disruption to service delivery, we implemented new remote work methods, assisting our staff in making a smooth transition to remote work.
Health and safety measures were implemented throughout the organization, guided with an abundance of care. Covid-19–related updates were provided to our clients and community. We identified emerging community needs and collaborated with funders to provide responsive and innovative supports to meet emerging community and partner agency needs. We turned to our organizational values at every step to ensure the best possible outcome for our staff, clients, and partners. As the pandemic progressed, the complexity of needs increased; more resources were going towards meeting individual client needs.
Despite the struggles and losses, we are so proud of our staff and the communities we serve. It is said that “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed” –Bob Riley.
Within the pages of our 2020/21 Annual Report, you will read about heroes and their courage; individuals and collectives. It is dedicated to them and the heroes among us, who, during the moments of great adversity revealed resilience, hope, wisdom, and talents. We recognize them for responding and continuing to respond, to create better circumstances for our organization and the clients that we serve.
Yorktown Family Services would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our government, funders, and donors who continued to invest in us. We also thank our community of VAW shelters and infant child and youth mental health partners for collaborating with us to respond in coordinated ways to benefit the communities that we serve across Toronto and southern Ontario.
We are extremely grateful to our Board of Directors for increasing their volunteer time and talents during these unprecedented times while managing their own personal and professional demands.
2020/21 will be remembered as the year that commanded our resolve to lead, drawing on all personal resilience while demanding the determination to embrace uncertainty and work with it to create change for the clients and communities that we serve.
Yorktown provides in-person as well as virtual Rapid Access (RA) mental health counselling to thousands of children, youth, young adults, and families, free of charge. With your support, we will be able to respond to more individuals and families in need of accessible, immediate, and group mental health programs and social services. For more information and to access the RA counselling schedule, please visit our website.