This annual meeting marks 41 years of dedicated service to older adults and their families – here’s to many more years of impact! 🥳

On June 25th, our board of directors, VIPs, and staff shared a beautiful night to discuss business, acknowledge our past year’s highlights, and celebrate our awards winners.

 

At the annual meeting, we presented our 2023-2024 annual report, highlighting the achievements made during this fiscal year.

The priority in 23-24 was to bring clients back to
face-to-face programming following three years of
COVID-enforced closures of these programs.
We began by reopening our Adult Day, Daystrom, and
Congregate Dining programs, relaunching seniors’ rides to medical appointments, and
offering group social and shopping outings. We offered 14,630 rides for
community programs, social outings, and medical appointments

To list a few highlights, we had 2,322 unique older adults and caregivers served
1,511 attendances in our Seniors’ Lunch Program, $52,446 raised through fundraising, donations, and designated donations, and 4,979 volunteer hours. See our full impact. 

Expansion and success of our programs could not have occurred without developing mutually beneficial partnerships and new funding sources. We thank the Ontario Health Teams, United Way, the City of Toronto, our partner agencies, our clients, donors, and volunteers, without whom none would be possible.

Picture of our board of directors and CEO, Alison Coke

 

Furthermore, we had the opportunity to launch our 2024-27 strategic plan. Lina Neves-Mera, chair of the strategic plan development committee, launched our new strategic plan.

 

The senior leadership team will undertake a prioritization exercise and collaborate with their respective teams to build annual workplans aimed at actioning this work. The Board of Directors commit to reviewing annual progress according to the plan and to being responsive to
any changes required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Annual General Meeting also provides us with an opportunity to formally recognize the contributions and impact made by front-line staff and community organizations who have shown their strong commitment and support to our mission

2024 ESS Honour Roll Award:

Our ESS Honour Roll Award celebrates individuals and groups who have shown great dedication and commitment to making our mission at ESS a reality in the community. This award was presented to Margaret Smuk, a former member of the ESS Board of Directors.  Margaret served for over 23 years as Board Secretary, including several terms as Chair of the Fundraising and Volunteer Advisory Committees.  We applaud her long-standing dedication and support to our agency and its volunteers.

 

2024 ESS Laura Kennedy Sapphire Award of Excellence:

This year’s direct service award was presented to an exceptional and dedicated Personal Support Worker, Carolina Penticostes.  In her 20-plus years of service with ESS, Carolina has demonstrated unparalleled professional care and support to those in need.

🌟 Cheers to 41 years of making a difference in our community! Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate! 🥳