Helping turn things around

2008 - 2009 Annual Report

Don Cumming, President Anne Adair, Vice President Janice Green, Past President Meghann Agnew, Treasurer Shirl Delarue, Secretary

Board of Directors 2

President & ED Report 3

Mission, Vision & Values 4

Strategic Commitments 5

Committee Reports 6

Program Reports 9

Program Statistics 13

Auditors’ Report 15

Success Stories 17

Recognition Pages 19(L-R) Meghann Agnew, Helene Lowry, Heide Flatten, Emmet Connolly, Don Cumming, Janice Green, Judy Loukras, Karen Derian Missing: Anne Adair, Shirl Delarue, Carol Pedler

Emmet Connolly Karen Derian Heide Flatten Helene Lowry Judy Loukras Carol Pedler

Board of Directors

We are pleased to report on an active and successful year, with significant achievements and new initiatives in strategic direction and service delivery.  In 2008-09, CCRC helped turn things around for over 12,000 people. We encourage readers to review the program information, stories and statistics in this report and to note not only the number or people served but also the range of services that helped to improve people’s personal well-being, credit and financial management, access to housing, and connection with community. CCRC works to empower and bring hope to clients and to create positive social change. We do this through one-to-one work as well as work to alleviate systemic factors contributing to client issues, such as those related to poverty, violence, housing insecurity, relationship difficulties, criminal justice, consumer credit and financial management.

 CCRC’s work is supported by the leadership of a committed and talented Board of Directors. We thank all Board members for successfully completing an energetic set of tasks over the past year. This included an extensive six month strategic planning process, involving the Board and all staff. We are pleased to release our new strategic commitments in this annual report and to report that work on these has begun and will continue in the coming years.

The Board has been actively involved in a search for new and improved property for our services and has intensified this work in the past year. We wish to express special thanks to Shirl Delarue for leading this search and hope to have news on this in the coming months. Special thanks are also extended to Judy Loukras for leading our successful Juke Box Mania event and to Anne Adair and Helene Lowry for their leadership of our Advocacy and Human Resource Committees.  We thank all our partners, donors, funders and volunteers for responding generously in addressing the urgent needs presented to us, especially in this year of economic downturn. Special appreciation is extended to the United Way of Peterborough and District, the City and County of Peterborough, the Province of Ontario, Service Canada, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Peterborough Foundation and Peterborough Utilities Services for making our services possible this year.  Our services would not be successful without the tremendous care and commitment all CCRC staff bring to their work every single day. Special thanks are extended to all the staff of CCRC and to our management team, Joanne Duquette, Shelley Giardino, Arthur Herold, Margaret McCutcheon, Rosemary O’Donnell, and Steve Wesley for going well beyond the call of duty in helping turn things around in 2008-09.   

Don C. Cumming, Casey Ready,President Executive Director

President & ED Report

RespectMeeting people with caring, compassion, acceptance Commitment to Clients Offering high quality, supportive, accessible, and integrated services Commitment to Community Addressing issues including those related to poverty and social justice

which affect our clients, through involvement in partnerships, education and advocacy

 Leadership Providing expertise and support to identify and respond effectively to

emerging needs relevant to our purpose Volunteerism Recognizing the importance of volunteerism  

CCRC exists to make a positive and lasting difference in people’s lives.

 CCRC helps people strengthen their lives and promotes community well-being. We do this through services that offer counselling, support and

resources to assist with personal well-being, credit and financial management, access to housing and connection with community. 

We promote individual and community well being through: 

CCRC has an ongoing commitment to strengthen its service capacity by:  

Vision

Mission

Values

Operating Principles

Mission, Vision & Values

Maintaining a client-centred focus Ensuring services respond to

changing needs Offering services that are

accessible, affordable and integrated

Creating partnerships that benefit clients and enhance services

Advocating about priority policy issues that affect clients

Maximizing financial stability and accountability

Being a desired place to work and volunteer

CCRC is committed to moving forward in the following areas towards our vision and mission:

Enhance Sustainability* Secure new sustainable resources to provide quality services* Increase collaborations and partnerships in the community* Increase understanding of our role in the social determinants of health* Enhance use of technology to support service delivery* Tell more people about what we do and why

Commit to Social Change* Increase public education and prevention work* Influence public policies related to clients’ needs* Educate the public about and be responsive to the reality of social injustices related to client needs, such as poverty and violence

Increase Inclusivity and Diversity* Be proactive in addressing poverty issues* Enhance services for county residents and seniors* Develop a diversity lens and enhance inclusion of diverse groups in the agency and in service delivery

Strategic Commitments

The CCRC Advocacy Committee was struck in 2007 to address injustices and inequities at a systemic level which impact the lives of our clients. With a focus on “income distribution,” the committee has worked to influence public policy through such efforts as endorsing the 25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction campaign, and by responding to political decisions that affect social assistance and income levels, such as changes to the National Child Benefit and introduction of the Ontario Child Benefit. At a local level, CCRC participates on various social justice initiatives including the Affordable Housing Action Committee (AHAC), the Homelessness Committee (Social Services), the Peterborough Domestic Assault Network (PDAN), the Housing Workers’ Network and three sub-committees of the Peterborough Action Committee on Poverty Reduction (Basic Needs, Food and Housing). Advocacy efforts have also manifested in very practical ways. To foster a culture of equality and justice, CCRC staff are involved in anti-oppression training. To support the needs of CCRC clients, an information card was created to guide residents who need help paying rent or utilities. I want to express thanks to the members of this committee: Don Cumming, Margaret McCutcheon, Rosemary O’Donnell, Casey Ready and Maisie Watson.

~ Anne Adair, Chair

This is an ad-hoc committee, called as needed to review human resource policies and recommend changes to the CCRC Board. The committee began meeting in the fall of 2008 with the purpose of reviewing CCRC’s salary range system based on a request from staff and a recommendation in a 2006 report. The committee began by looking at various studies and articles on compensation and then moved on to data gathering. We’ve now begun to assess the information brought together and hope to have a report and recommendations to present to the staff and then the Board by early fall 2009. Although our discussions have been interesting and rewarding, the massive amounts of data and information are complex and challenging to analyze and assess. I’m sure no one on our committee knew how much work was involved prior to agreeing to share the job. I would like to express my appreciation for the commitment of our entire group, comprised of Board members Karen Derian, Sue Leeson and myself, community volunteer Barb Thompson and staff, Casey Ready, Joanne Duquette, Kim Hamilton Arthur Herold and Margaret McCutcheon, for the depth and breadth of expertise they are bringing to the task and their cool, analytical heads in tackling a sensitive and important process. We plan to report to the Board in the fall of 2009.

~ Helene Lowry, Chair

Human Resource Policy Advisory CommitteeAdvocacy Committee

Committee Reports

I have had the honour of chairing the Juke Box Mania fundraising committee for two years and worked on the event for a third year. The growth and development of the project over the three years is evident in the return of many of the attendees year to year, attraction of new members to the committee and additions to the event each year, including improved location, improved food offering, additional fundraisers at the event, more volunteers, bigger silent auction, and the WOLF/KRUZ as excellent DJ’s for the night. This growth has resulted in increasing the profile of CCRC in the community. Juke Box Mania 2009 raised over $8,000 to prevent homelessness through CCRC’s Housing Resource Centre. These funds will be put to excellent use, given a significant increase in need for these services. However, these results were less than we had hoped for and the committee believes this is a result of the down turn in the economy as there were fewer businesses buying corporate and sponsorship tables. We continue to feel positive about the growth of the event next year. I would like to thank the committee members for their hard work and commitment to the event; Emmet Connolly, Heide Flatten, Helene Lowry, Kathy Makowchik, Beth McMaster, Kim Hamilton, Nikki Langley, Casey Ready and Heather Watson. ~ Judy Loukras, 2009 Event Chair

The roles of this Committee are to develop communications and fundraising strategies, to build community support and increase resources for CCRC, and to support the implementation of approved communications and fundraising plans.  This year’s work was led by CCRC’s 2008-09 Communications Plan, which included activities in the areas of community awareness, program promotion and fundraising and resource development. The Committee oversaw two direct mail campaigns; facilitated the release of two agency newsletters, a Donor Report and our new e-newsletter; initiated work on a donor bill of rights; and supported the development of a new look for our annual report. The Committee also oversaw the Public Education program funded through the Trillium Foundation, which included the development and delivery of public education sessions, the creation of the new web-site and e-newsletter, the addition of our new Donor Report and the improvement of processes and materials for our direct mail campaign. I want to thank Committee members, Janice Green, Christine Post, Joanne Duquette, Nancy Jackson, Margaret McCutcheon, Heather Watson and Casey Ready for their creativity, hard work and continued interest in building support and resources for CCRC over the past year.

~ Don C. Cumming, Chair

Juke Box Mania Committee Communications & Fundraising Committee

Committee Reports

Over the past 12 months the Property Committee has continued its efforts to find a location for CCRC which meets the criteria established by the Board. To that end we have:

I wish to thank our committee members, Carole Pedler and Emmet Connolly, for their hard work and dedication to this project. We also wish to acknowledge the work undertaken by Casey Ready on this

project. Her leadership, professionalism, time management abilities and credibility in the community have been critical

to our work.

 ~ Shirl Delarue, Chair

Property Committee

Worked with commercial real estate brokers Finding no suitable location (vacant land or existing building) we entered a negotiation

process with George Street United Church regarding the potential lease of space Met with representatives from the Church Council regularly Established a lease sub-committee Solicited for and reviewed submissions from three architects/designers/project managers Selected architectural designer, Laurie Young Met regularly with Laurie Young re: agency needs Met with Jeff Leal, M.P.P.; Dean Del Mastro, M.P.; Malcolm Hunt, City Planning Director; and

Ken Doherty, Director of Community Services, and Andy Mitchell of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Council

Developed a budget for the renovation project Made grant applications to the Peterborough Foundation, Trillium, Community Futures and

the Federal Enabling Accessibility Fund, and Industry Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund

Committee Reports

CCRC’s Counselling Program is a total team effort. From the good people of Peterborough City and County who contribute their hard earned dollars to United Way, to our roster of dedicated counsellors, to our administrative and management support teams, our volunteers, and our other funders and contributors, thank you for making this essential program possible! I am well placed to appreciate this work, because all the Client Evaluation Forms that are filled in come across my desk. I am continually humbled by the appreciation expressed by clients for this service and their testimony to its often “life-changing” effect on them and their families. My load is lightened by the strength of character of the counselling team, who show their dedication daily in their willingness to “go the extra mile” to bring excellence and innovation to their work. This year we welcomed Jane Barry and Brenda Logan to our team of permanent counselling staff, and provided professional placement opportunities for 2 students. In another major development, we received annualized funding from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services to provide counselling to women survivors of sexual abuse. We continued important partnerships with the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Aid Society, the Peterborough Domestic Abuse Network, as well as with the City of Peterborough, which funds the Housing Social Worker Program. We negotiated a new partnership with our community’s children’s mental health providers to coordinate treatment in certain situations when we are providing service to the parents of children they serve. Also in the past year, we were pleased to add the Fairhaven Long Term Care facility to our growing roster of customers for Employee Assistance Plan Services. In keeping with one of our strategic goals for the year, we have been able to offer more counselling groups, as we recognize both the efficiencies and therapeutic benefits of this modality. This spring we ran a total of 9 groups, including a new group format called Choices and Changes for women exploring their patterns in choosing and relating to intimate partners. We are looking forward to building on these gains in the coming year!

~ Arthur Herold, Manager

Back Row from left: Jane Barry, Kim Rogers, Arthur Herold, Carson RynerFront Row from left: Ellie Stewart, Kirsten Armbrust, Brenda LoganMissing: Kim Heise

Program Reports

Housing Resource CentreHousing Resource CentreThere was a 32% increase in service requests during the last half of the fiscal year when the recession resulted in reduced income, job loss and widespread housing instability throughout the City and County. Of the more than 7,000 client contacts, over 4,000 paid more than 50% of their income to housing and over 90% had incomes below Statistic Canada’s Low Income Cut Off line. It is noteworthy that 46% of our clients are single individuals and 34% are parents with children. For an average of less than $400, our Homelessness Prevention Funds helped 570 households to stabilize their housing. Energy assistance comprised 57% of the total of $227,587 allocated over the last year.  Through CCRC’s public education initiative ,we facilitated the creation of a local Housing Workers Network, hosted public education, and led two workshops at the first conference of the newly formed Housing Help Association of Ontario.  I would like to acknowledge the City and County of Peterborough and the United Way for their continued support and partnership and also offer sincere thanks to our many partners, students, volunteers and our a highly effective staff team for their commitment to our clients and community.~ Rosemary O’Donnell, Manager

Jaime Bowen, Kelly Scott, Margaret McCutcheon, Rosemary O’Donnell, Margaret Carson Missing: Karen Hennessey

The recession has resulted in a dramatic challenge for many families and individuals in the Peterborough region. Jobs, income and net worth have been disappearing at an alarming rate and this has caused a significant increase in demand for our services. We are hopeful that several new initiatives including our redesigned telephone ad, our newly developed client review process, trust account deposit system and updated website will improve accessibility for our clients.

We have been proud to have been able to provide, with the assistance of the United Way of Peterborough and District, more than 27 community workshops and 5 public education events that reached at least 1,550 individuals. We also distributed 1050 copies of our educational booklet, Help You Help Yourself, to the community. Numerous television, radio and newspaper events further helped to provide needed information and advice to many more thousands of people within the City and County. The ability to meet this unprecedented challenge couldn’t happen without the ongoing support of the CCRC Board and staff, United Way and our donors. Your assistance is much appreciated.~ Steve Wesley, ManagerNancy Jackson, Steve Wesley, Larry Keller, Jennifer

Takuski

In 2008, the Community Service Order (CSO) Program carried over 200 clients from 2007 in addition to receiving 333 new youth and adult orders, with referrals slightly down over the previous year. Overall, CSO clients contributed 14,263 hours to non-profit organizations within Peterborough City and County. The program secured some additional funding to alleviate budget stresses for staff towards the end of December 2008. Special thanks to Case Coordinator Karyn Gimblett and Program Assistant Christine Hignett for their hard work and dedication to the program.  During the year, CSO staff made 129 contacts with community partners including maintenance of registered placements and development of 7 new placements. In all, 185 placements are registered with the CSO program. Additionally, CSO staff attended 15 community initiatives that were program related including: Youth Advisory Council, Youth Justice Networking Committee, Ontario Criminal Justice Association, and the United Way Youth Service Providers Cooperative.  The CSO Networker newsletter, distributed bi-annually, reached a total of 542 community partners, members of the judiciary and Probation and Parole to communicate program news, issues and client stories. Furthermore, on June 3, 2008, the CSO Program hosted an evening with Pardons Canada to benefit clients and community partners interested in the process of criminal record removal.

~ Shelley Giardino, Manager

Karyn Gimblett, Christine Hignett, Shelley Giardino

We were pleased to implement the final ten months of our grant from The Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2008-09. The goals of this grant were to improve understanding among the public of emotional, financial, housing and health issues and prevention; to increase our capacity for providing and sustaining public education; and to improve our capacity for marketing and agency branding.

Through this grant, we developed an exciting and interactive new website, at www.ccrc-ptbo.com, which includes forms and calculators, newsletters, documents, a secure shared space for staff and Board members and the capacity for continual updating. A new Housing Worker’s Network, providing ongoing training, connection and support to local front line housing workers, was created and is continuing. Other achievements include an agency-wide media and marketing plan, the design and delivery of over 25 community workshops, enhanced contact with the media, and the introduction of our new e-newsletter, Community Matters: CCRC’s Voice for Public Education and Advocacy.  While the grant was completed at the end of January 2009, we continue public education work through each of our programs and have committed to increasing this in our 2009-2012 Strategic Plan. We thank The Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting this initiative and we extend special thanks to Margaret McCutcheon, who led this work as Public Education Manager until the completion of the grant in January 2009.

The past year has been one of growth and change in our team. CCRC’s long term Finance Assistant, Dianne Borrow retired in early 2009 after working with us for 15 years. We wish her well in her retirement! We welcomed Sarah Bailey in the position of Finance Assistant. In the area of Communications, we welcomed Heather Watson as our new Resource Developer on a part-time contract basis. Through this new role, the area of Resource Development has experienced increased capacity and donor connection and stewardship. We also welcomed Nikki Langley, our fourth annual Fleming Social Service Worker Placement student in the position of Volunteer Coordinator, Communications Associate.

The agency’s financial status ended the year on a positive note. Overall agency donations increased and assisted our efforts to help our clients “turn things around.” The generous contributions of donors also supported the Housing Emergency Assistance Fund, a Fund that has no other ongoing source of revenue to assist people in need within our community.

Many thanks to the hard working and dedicated FAC team and to the volunteers, funders and donors who support all CCRC programs. When you support our agency you become an important part of a network of people who are committed to making a difference in the lives of the people within their community.

~ Joanne Duquette, Manager

Kim Hamilton, Joanne Duquette, Sarah Bailey, Heather Watson

Program Reports

Counselling Clients Seen/Program ~ 2008/2009

Housing Resource Centre Services Provided

Program Statistics

Program Statistics

Extracted from the Audited 2009 Financial Statements prepared by Collins Barrow Kawarthas LLP.Copies of the 2009 Financial Statements and the Auditors’ Report are available to any member upon request.

Auditors’ Report

Extracted from the Audited 2009 Financial Statements prepared by Collins Barrow Kawarthas LLP.Copies of the 2009 Financial Statements and the Auditors’ Report are available to any member upon request.

Auditors’ Report

During assessment to begin community service, a client expressed an interest in connecting with a particular organization, which she was interested in due to her studies at school. Placement was arranged with the organization and the client was hired part time after completing her community service due to her enthusiasm and the knowledge she had to share with the placement.

A number of months passed and the client called her caseworker to report she had been hired to manage a program at the organization. The client was delighted and stated she would not have had the opportunity had the Community Service Order Program not connected with this organization.

A recently widowed father of three small children approached our service. In addition to his wife’s death, he had just been laid off from his former well paying job of twelve years and his mortgage and personal debts had fallen into serious arrears. Although he had just found a new, lesser paying job, the mortgage company wasn’t going to give him the time needed to bring his arrears up to date. The risk of power-of-sale and legal action were very real. However, by advocating on his behalf with the mortgagee and by engaging the client in a debt management program, we were able to help avert what would have been a personal family disaster. It will take our client several years to fully recover financially but at least he and his children can continue to live in what has been their only home.

Simple actions can change a world. In the following program stories, our clients

demonstrate how, together, we make a difference in their lives:

Stan called seeking counselling at the suggestion of his probation officer, who was involved with Stan following his conviction for assaulting a woman friend. Stan is a divorced middle-aged man and father of two adolescents. Two years ago he lost a good factory job and now drives a delivery truck, making substantially less money. In individual counselling Stan gained some insight into how he lost motivation and sank into negative attitudes following his divorce and job loss. Stan set some goals involving job retraining and improving his relationships with his children. He then attended the Men’s Managing Change Group, where he connected with other men and learned new skills in communication and managing emotions.

~ Community Service Orders ~

~ Counselling ~

~ Credit Counselling~

Success Stories

 Late last month we were contacted by both the MPP’s office and a Township Councillor about a couple with five children, whose hydro was disconnected. The couple live in the County were unaware of our services. We were unable to speak with them by phone as their service was disconnected. They could not come to our offices because their truck needed repairs. We arranged for them to call us from a neighbour’s home over a mile away.  Rick worked at a local store and his hours were cut recently. Debbie is on maternity leave and waiting over two months for her Employment Insurance (EI) payments to begin. The telephone interview was humiliating for the client because there was no privacy and frustrating because he didn’t have a lot of the information needed at hand.  With reduced income, the family had fallen into not just electricity but also mortgage arrears and the bank was sending threatening letters. In order to qualify for any of our funds we needed documentation of their income, etc. This meant a delay and the hydro was disconnected causing additional fees to reconnect it.  With no other funds available, the hydro was reconnected from the public donations to the Emergency Fund. The HRC worker advocated with the bank regarding the mortgage arrears and once Debbie received her EI, the family paid the amount owing and is now able to keep their mortgage current.

~ Housing Resource Centre ~

Simple actions can change a world. In the following program stories, our clients

demonstrate how, together, we make a difference in their lives:

Success Stories

City and County of Peterborough Ministry of Children & Youth Services Ministry of Community and Social Services Ministry of Health and Long Term Care/Central East Local Health

Integration Network Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Peterborough Utilities Services Service Canada The Ontario Trillium Foundation The Peterborough Foundation  United Way of Peterborough & District Family Service Canada Family Service Ontario Cogeco Cable Solutions Doyle Scholarship Enbridge Gas (Winter Warmth Program) Hydro One (Winter Warmth Program) The Companies who support our Debt Management Programs Canadian Bankers Association Credit Counselling Canada Credit Counselling Service of Toronto Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services Ontario Housing Help Centre Network The landlords who listed their rental vacancies on our Housing

Registry The community organizations that are placements for

Community Service Order clients

The Board and Staff of CCRC would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to all of our funders and supporters:

With the support of our funders and donors, we were able to respond wherever the need was greatest to support individuals and families in our community. Thanks to YOU, CCRC has been able to Help Turn Things Around for many individuals and families. Our donors’ names do not appear here to respect confidentiality.

We also extend our sincere appreciation to our members, donors, and to the many individuals, organizations, and agencies who share their expertise and wisdom, their interest and quiet support, often anonymously, but always with impact.

Recognition Pages

We would like to extend our appreciation to all of those agencies and committees who we have had the privilege of partnering with to serve this community. Recognition Pages

We would like to extend our appreciation to all of those agencies and committees who we have had the privilege of partnering with to serve this community. Recognition Pages

  Volunteers are an essential part of CCRC. Their

generous gifts of time, effort, and skill allow us to provide high quality service to our clients.

We would like to extend our thanks to all of our volunteers for all that you do.

Jaime BowenAnna Gartshore

John HunterNikki Langley

Jay Lough-HayesJenn Kalus

Kathy MakowchikBeth McMasterSavorn NounChristine PostLois ReynoldsTom Robbins

Molly StollmeyerBarbara Thompson

All the volunteers with Juke Box ManiaMembers of CCRC Board of Directors

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recognition Pages

www.ccrc-ptbo.com

Thank You!

For helping turn things around

LOCATIONS