• Who We Support

• Current Investees
  • Calgary Youth Justice
  • Connections Counselling
    • SVP Involvement
    • "Capcity to Excel", CC, 2008
    • "Strengthening Ourselves",CC, 2009
    • Website
  • EvenStart
• Investee Alumni
• Evaluation and Outcomes
• How to Be Supported

The passion for our work has always been central, however building skill sets and capacity in all of these areas helps to fuel that passion.

This year, our staff members and Board of Directors participated in a Strategic Planning process facilitated by an SVP Partner.  This opportunity, along with the Strategic Plan document developed as a result, has set the ground work in establishing a strong foundation for organizational capacity building.

The first benefit was felt immediately as both staff and Board worked together in identifying four key areas for our agency. This really helped us to come together as a team. The key areas included Fund Development, Human Resources, Communications, and Programs.  A “champion” or lead board member now heads each of those areas. 

The second important benefit was claiming this as a “living” document which is reviewed and changed on a regular basis. In fact, key area reviews are now a regular agenda item at every board meeting. This ensures that as an organization we are constantly attending to identified tasks and revising or establishing new tasks to realize goals. Our SVP Partner will participate with us in a review of the plan 18 months after its implementation.

What impact has this made to the organization? Perhaps that can best be explained by describing outcomes from each of the key areas:

Fund Development
With further encouragement from SVP, we applied for and were accepted into the year-long Fund Development Plus 2008 mentorship program through CentrePoint, a non-profit educational organization in Calgary.  Both the Board President and I participated in workshops. A professional mentor guided us through this process and I have acquired new skills and a greater understanding of the Fund Development process. Our revised fund development plan and case of support have been developed and we explored new funding opportunities to ensure sustainable funding is in place.

Human Resources
Given the challenges of recruitment and retention of qualified staff in all sectors, including the social service sector, we began discussions considering adequate compensation, professional development and benefits. As a result, we secured additional funding for professional development. After consultation and direction from another SVP Partner, a Health Spending Account was established for staff.

Communications
Once again an SVP Partner’s expertise has been instrumental in our communications committee consideration of effective communication tools and strategies. New program brochures were developed, including a postcard for Fund Development opportunities using our key messages. Our committee is reviewing the case of support and is developing a case statement.

Programs
We continue to evaluate our programs to ensure quality service delivery and developing additional programs to meet client needs. We identified that the counseling component of our Family Support Program was too narrow. This spring, we were awarded $50,000.00 for a two-year grant. This enables us to expand the counseling program both in the number of hours available and scope of counseling services to individuals with intellectual disabilities and their family members.

All of this continues to move us forward as we build capacity and a stronger foundation as an organization. The passion for our work has always been central, however building skill sets and capacity in all of these areas helps to fuel that passion. This, in turn, motivates the staff and board with the end result being stronger programs for the benefit of the client families we support.