Hello Friend,
Thank you for your incredible support in 2023! As we wrap up the year, it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate some of our past achievements, and to look forward to some of our future ambitions. With your partnership, we are on a mission to help all child victims and their families towards amazing outcomes!
2023 Achievements
- This summer, our waitlist reached a soaring 204 children and youth, with staff caseloads as high as 112 clients each. But with your help, we’ve brought our waitlist number down to 110 and caseloads under 100. We remain committed to our major goal of eliminating our waitlist.
- Thanks to some excellent grants and funding opportunities, we have been able to move forward on some great projects. Just one example is the refresh of the front entrance at our office with a new walkway and railings, making it safer for everyone who visits our office.
- The groundwork is well underway to utilize volunteers more heavily moving forward to take on small projects, fundraising initiatives, administrative tasks, direct client work, and driving for our agency. This will free up time for our staff to focus more on serving our clients.
- We reached the milestone of owning our Duke Street building for 10 years. In the past decade, we have served over 8,000 children within this space. Owning this space has already saved our agency over $200,000 in occupancy costs, which equates to serving at least 200 more children.
2024 Ambitions
- Our Child Victims Can’t Wait campaign has only begun! There is much work to be done to conquer our waitlist! If you can give, donating once or ideally pledging for the next five years will help immensely. Every child deserves our support from the moment they need it.
- Our 2024 Pancake Lunch is fast approaching on February 13! This 26th annual edition of our signature event will be a wonderful opportunity to come together in support of local young victims, and their families! You can get your tickets and become a sponsor now!
- Youth Symposium is coming back! This meaningful program equips youth with confidence, inspiration, and empowerment to thrive. We are looking forward to welcoming over 4,000 grade 8 students and their teachers to this event, after being cancelled since the start of the pandemic.
- We are also excited to be launching a new peer-to-peer event where individuals and teams will have the opportunity to raise funds for Child Witness Centre. Stay tuned for the details on how you can participate to make a difference in our community!
Together with you, we have accomplished so much! But in many ways, it feels like we are only getting started. Please join me in being a champion for Child Witness Centre and share about our mission with your network. After-all, it really does take a village to raise a child. I’m so happy we’re in this together!
Best wishes to you and your loved ones in 2024!
Robin Heald | Executive Director