Yorktown Family Services 2024-2025 Community Partnership Awards

At Yorktown Family Services, we know that healing, safety, and support don’t happen in isolation — they’re made possible through the strength of our community. Each year, we proudly recognize outstanding partners whose generosity, innovation, and compassion help extend our reach and deepen our impact.

Our 2024/25 Community Partnership Awards honour four incredible collaborators who have gone above and beyond in service of children, youth, and families. Whether through trauma-informed programming, meaningful memorials, access to healthcare, or restoring dignity through clothing, these partnerships represent what’s possible when we come together for a shared purpose.

The Redwood Hub-on-Wheels Team

The Redwood Hub-on-Wheels (Hub) Team, nominated by Ronit Kasimov, Manager, Shelter Client Services, is a recipient of a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award in recognition of their outstanding dedication to Yorktown’s shelter residents.

The Redwood Hub is a travelling clinic staffed by mental health professionals and a nurse practitioner. By removing traditional barriers such as health cards, appointments, or fees, the team ensures care is accessible to all.

Ronit shares: “The Redwood Hub-on-Wheels health clinic has been an invaluable and convenient resource for our clients. Instead of needing to travel to access medical advice or speak with a counsellor, the Hub brings these essential services directly to us.”

Beyond convenience, the mobile clinic offers reassurance and understanding for women who might otherwise struggle to access care. One shelter resident shared her appreciation: “They are very good. I can speak with them and I feel better. They give me good information.”

By meeting women where they are—literally—the Redwood Hub Team has strengthened the circle of care available to survivors of violence. Yorktown Family Services is proud to recognize the Redwood Hub Team with a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award in gratitude for the vital care they continue to bring to our community.

Re-Boutique

The Re-Boutique initiative, led by mother-and-daughter team Danielle Miller and Audrey Gage, is a recipient of a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award, nominated by Jeryl George, Counsellor at Yorktown’s Violence Against Women Shelter.

Re-Boutique began with a simple but powerful idea: to restore dignity and joy to women and children who often arrive at shelters with little more than the clothes on their backs. Instead of sorting through donated items in garbage bags, shelter residents were invited into a pop-up boutique experience. Clothing and accessories were displayed on racks, fitted, and thoughtfully curated in a store-like environment, allowing women to browse and choose what they needed—at no cost.

Over two years, Danielle and Audrey built partnerships with seven GTA shelters, coordinated monthly events, and mobilized an extraordinary network of donors. Designer clothing, new winter coats, fresh linens, purses, and even professional fittings were all part of the experience. At Yorktown, residents lined up with anticipation for Re-Boutique’s arrival, leaving with shopping bags full of high-quality items.

One resident reflected on the impact: “For the first time, I had the opportunity to choose my own clothing. It was a liberating experience.”

Yorktown Family Services is proud to recognize Danielle and Audrey and Re-Boutique with a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award for bringing not just clothing, but confidence, dignity, and joy to the women and children in our shelter.

Abrigo Centre

The Abrigo Centre, led by Paula De Jesus and her dedicated team, is a recipient of a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award, nominated by Karen Blake, Manager of Community Violence Prevention Programs.

In 2022, Yorktown trained Abrigo to deliver the Mindful Fathering program, marking the beginning of a partnership rooted in shared values and a commitment to reducing the impact of gender-based violence on families.

Since then, Yorktown and Abrigo have collaborated to strengthen access to Mindful Fathering groups. Together we created a central intake system, allowing fathers to connect with groups more quickly. By coordinating program schedules, the two organizations have reduced wait times, increased referrals, and expanded access through both in-person and virtual sessions.

Karen Blake notes: “Abrigo is an outstanding partner. Our values and mission are closely aligned—clients come first, and we do whatever it takes to support families.”

Through this collaboration, Yorktown’s innovation in violence prevention is amplified, reaching more families and creating safer, healthier communities. Yorktown Family Services is proud to honour Paula De Jesus and the Abrigo Centre team with a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award for joining Yorktown Family Services in delivering Mindful Fathering to fathers across Toronto.

The Home Depot (Caledonia)

In an unprecedented show of cross-program appreciation, Rob Peters and the Home Depot Caledonia Road Team received dual nominations for a Community Partnership Award from both Violence Against Women Services and the Growing With Grief Program. Their outstanding support underscores the mutual dedication of Yorktown and the Home depot to build safer, stronger, and more resilient communities where families can thrive.

Shirley’s Healing Garden: A Legacy of Courage and Community

On November 29, 2024, Yorktown Family Services’ Violence Against Women Shelter marked the 40th anniversary of the tragic death of Shirley Samaroo, whose courage and story inspired the creation of Yorktown’s VAW Services. In her honour, Yorktown unveiled Shirley’s Healing Garden — a sanctuary of remembrance and renewal for all survivors of gender-based violence.

The garden’s creation was made possible through the vision of CEO Suzette Arruda-Santos and Director of VAW Services Gabbey Dessye. With the generosity of Rob Peters and the volunteer team from The Home Depot Caledonia Road, the first phase of the Healing Garden was launched just in time for the November 29 memorial event in 2024. Yorktown proudly recognizes Rob and his team with a 2024/25 Community Partnership Award for donating plants, materials, and their time, to transform the space into a place of peace, beauty, and reflection.

For Gabbey, Shirley’s story is deeply personal — one that inspired her career and continues to guide Yorktown’s work today. The Healing Garden stands as a living testament to resilience, compassion, and community partnership. It honours those lost to femicide and celebrates the strength of survivors who find the courage to begin again.

Guided by our North Star — the women and children we serve — Yorktown continues to turn loss into legacy and remembrance into hope. Shirley’s Healing Garden reminds us that a sense of community nurtures healing. 

Growing With Grief: Nurturing Healing Through Community

For children and families facing loss, grief can feel overwhelming and isolating. Yorktown’s Growing With Grief (GWG) program offers a compassionate space where emotions can be expressed, memories honoured, and healing nurtured through connection and creativity.

Through Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Family Events, families are invited to plant flowers in decorated pots — personal “memory gardens” symbolizing enduring love and growth after loss. Thanks to the generosity of Rob Peters and The Home Depot Caledonia Road Team, who provided all materials and supplies, these gatherings have become powerful opportunities for remembrance and shared understanding.

Through their in-kind donations and meaningful partnership, the Home Depot Team’s support made it possible for Yorktown to offer this therapeutic, creative experience — one that helped grieving children and families see that they are not alone in what they are feeling. The shared act of planting, decorating, and remembering became a gentle way to express emotions and honour loved ones together.

As one caregiver participant shared, “The event helped my family feel less alone in our grief.”

Guided by our North Star — the children and families we serve — Growing With Grief continues to illuminate pathways through loss with compassion and connection, reminding us that it is through community healing can take root and continue to grow.

Interested in supporting Yorktown Family Services and becoming a community partner? Click here to donate now or connect with us!