Community Care is Built on Collective Kindness

South Riverdale Community Health Centre | 2022 Annual Report

Community Care is Built on Collective Kindness

South Riverdale Community Health Centre | 2022 Annual Report

Board Chair &
CEO Message

As we reflect on the past year, we are reminded of the incredible challenges we have all faced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the toxic drug crisis, the social and health impacts of systemic racism, climate change and ever-increasing inequality in our city. Despite these challenges, our community has shown remarkable strength, and an inspiring commitment to partnership and collaboration. Over the past year, SRCHC has demonstrated its commitment to equity and social justice, and we have heard again and again how important these values, based on love and kindness, are for our communities.

At SRCHC, we are grateful for the opportunity to have been able to play a vital role in supporting our community through these difficult times. From providing essential harm reduction, mental health, health promotion, and primary health care services, our team has worked tirelessly to ensure that those most in need have access to the care and resources they need.

Jason Altenberg

Chief Executive Officer

Mike Wilson

Board Chair

Providing relief from symptoms and stress of illness

Mapping clinical care to disease progression, while making advance directives, care proxies, and involving authorized loved ones is a rare privilege that many do not get to witness. Our Integrated Primary Care team honours this privilege by promoting compassionate, collaborative and respectful primary palliative care as a way of delivering whole-person care.

Community Health Is Built on Collective Kindness

As health care professionals, compassion, along with individual and collective kindness are the foundations upon which we build therapeutic relationships, individual healing work, group-based personal development supports, and community-based health promotion and advocacy. Many come to work in community-based health care because they care. Sometimes caring for others can weigh very heavily on us after we have been in our roles for a while or when we are faced with difficult circumstances, like continuing to provide health services and supports during a pandemic. This is where we find ourselves at this moment in time.

Cross organizational partnership to support care coordination

In March 2023, Health Standards Organization (HSO), recognized the Primary Care Response Teams (PCCRT), a program of the East Toronto Health Partners Ontario Health Team (ETHP OHT), as a leading practice in healthcare. The PCCRT was recognized for the capacity to enhance cross-organizational partnerships, leadership commitment and strong governance that supports accountability, planning, co-design, standardized operations, purposeful decision-making, and data collection for evaluation.

Kindness and love are at the root of harm reduction

In the spring of 2022, SRCHC’s Indigenous Health Promoter and the COUNTERfit Women’s Health Promoter brought together a group of Indigenous women who use drugs for an 8-week program to create their own regalia (the traditional clothing and accessories worn by Indigenous people at dances and cultural events) and dance in a Circle on the lawn next to the health centre. The harm reduction philosophy of this unique program was articulated by Elder Wanda Whitebird, who provided guidance to the project: “Harm reduction is not about drugs … it’s about unconditional love and about being there on your own terms.” This program is featured in Northern Features: love, culture, harm reduction, a documentary which has been submitted to a number of film festivals across Canada. Over the past year, other harm reduction programs at SRCHC were expanded or created that reflect the same spirit of love and self-determination that ran through the regalia project.

Year in Review

Statistics at a Glance

Unique Clients Served

Client Encounters

Anonymous Encounters

Programs

Group Programs

Group Sessions

Group Attendance

Food

Harmony Community Food Centre (HCFC) Meals Served

955 Queen Meals Served

Total Meals Served

Communications

Media Reach

Billion

Social Media Reach

Mentions

The Evolution

of Our Strategic Directions

SRCHC’s values and strategic directions were reviewed through a process led by our board in partnership with staff, clients, partners and community. The biggest changes that we made to our strategic plan was the articulation of our values. Our vision of “empowered, healthy, thriving communities where everyone belongs” can only be realized if the centre’s work is guided by:

Commitment to Reconciliation & Relationship with Indigenous people, communities and organizations.
Advocating for Health Equity & Social Justice by aiming to avoid differences in the social determinants of health.
Meaningful Engagement that involves engaging stakeholders in ways that privilege and position does not dictate who contributes when planning, implementing, and evaluating our services.
Taking a Holistic Approach that includes an understanding of the diversity of human experience that shapes health and importance of the individual’s right to autonomy and choice.
Embracing Evidence & Values-Informed Practice, responding to community experience and knowledge and championing approaches that inform practice, leadership, and transformative change

The Evolution

of Our Values

Our Minds

will balance the multiple ways to define health.

Holistic Approach We recognize that attending to a holistic sense of health requires an understanding of the diversity of human experiences, the systems and environments that shape health and wellbeing and the importance of the individual’s right to autonomy and choice.

Our Eyes

will recognize people where they are at.

Meaningful Engagement We value the perspectives gained through lived experience, and engage in open dialogue that allows us to broaden our own knowledge & understanding of challenges.

Our Voices

will rise together for equitable systems.

Health Equity and Social Justice We believe in the dignity and self worth of all people and their right to be safe, to a healthy environment, to have access to an affordable place to call home, to food, to income, to responsive and high quality health care and more.

Our Hearts

will beat in harmony with Indigenous Peoples.

Commitment to Reconciliation & Relationship As part of the healthcare system, we are committed to Indigenous self determination, actioning reconciliation, building relationships, and learning from Indigenous people / communities / organizations.

Our Hands

will reach out to fully engage our communities.

Evidence and Values Informed Practice We will champion approaches that inform practice, leadership, and transformative change that align with our values and the lived experiences of communities, as well as what is known from research evidence.

Financial Highlights

Operating Revenue & Expenses

Period ended March 31, 2023

These summarized statements have been extracted from the South Riverdale Community Health Centre’s audited ﬁnancial statements for the year ended March 31, 2023. A copy of the complete ﬁnancial statements prepared by Management and audited by Deloitte LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants is available to any member of the public upon request on the website.

Thank You to Our Donors & Funders

From April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023

Adam Wasserman
Adwoa K. Buahene
Alex Ross
Allison Buchan-Terrell
Andrea Noack
Ann Peel
Artists’ Network
Bonny Mak
Brittany Cuthbert
CanadaHelps
Carol Coiffe
Christian Negre
Claudia Calabro
Courtney Siu
Darya Greengarten
Doria Baldwin
Dorian Baldwin
Dr. Sarah Griffiths Professional Medicine Corp
Emma Reel
Fidelity Chapter Order of the Eastern Star Ontario
Gantavya Khanna
Gavin Wardle
Gotam Bhardwaj
Gotamago Inc.
Green Standards Ltd.
Gurpreet Karir
Helene Issayevitch
Hilary Evans Cameron
Holly Huizenga
Iain Charles Mcbride
Ivi Egalik
Jayne Caldwell
Jean-Wen Ko
John Schell
Julia Horel
Kristen Yee
Krysten Caddy
Laura Pazzano
Laurie Poole
Leah Eyles
Leslie Middaugh
Linda Rozmovits
Linn Clark
Margaret Andres
Marilyn Pepper
Mark Homer
Matthew Bruce
Matthew Jaekel
Merleen Willis
Michael Brent
Michele Harding
Perry Caicco
Peter Duckworth-Pilkington
Phil Gazaleh
Ravi Yee Joshi
Robert Guerra
Sabina Latendorf
Samantha Yang
Sharon and Gordon Stang
Stephanie Penthor
Steven Little
Sudhir Joshi
Surkhab Peerzada
Valerie Longstaff
Zach Mathew

Community Care is Built on Collective Kindness

Community Care is Built on Collective Kindness

Board Chair &
CEO Message

Providing relief from symptoms and stress of illness

Community Health Is Built on Collective Kindness

Cross organizational partnership to support care coordination

Kindness and love are at the root of harm reduction