I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been another year of ups and downs, and approaching two years of living through a pandemic has taken a toll on so many. Toronto Foundation’s recent Vital Signs Report shows that anxiety and depression are at a high, and New Leaf’s work feels more important than ever. Through all the tough stuff, I can also see the collective resilience found in community care.
When we come together and take care of each other, we can overcome so much.
This resilience can be witnessed within our organization as well. We’ve found new ways to stay connected and built new methods for supporting young people and the adults they’re surrounded by.
Here are a few highlights from the past year, as well as a few glimpses into things to come in 2022!
- With the support of OTF’s Resilient Communities Fund grant, built in the processes and procedures needed to support a hybrid model of programming which will allow us to stay flexible into the future
- Put our Building Blocks for Resilience training for educators & youth service providers into an online format
- Piloted and officially launched our mindfulness-based Curriculum Toolkit, a series of online materials supporting the integration of mindfulness into classrooms
- Strengthened existing relationships and invested in emerging partnerships with organizations like Rexdale Community Health Centre, Pathways to Education, Peacebuilders Canada
- Created new workshops for youth, service providers, and parents that can be offered online or in person
- Invested in building additional partnerships with restorative justice organizations (more on this to come in the new year!)
- Developed a library of resources that allow us to reach a broader audience as well as provide on-going support to participants in our frontline programming
- Conducted a survey on wellness that was completed by close to 200 young people—keep an eye out for the summary to be release in early 2022!
I’d like to send out a heartfelt thank you for your continued support.
We truly could not have survived the last couple of years without all the ways you make our work possible.
On behalf of our entire team, wishing you a restful holiday season and best wishes for 2022!
Laura Sygrove,
Executive Director