Annual Report 2021
A Word from the Chairs ›› Together is better
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021 was a year of endurance. It pushed us all to work harder, dig deeper, and reach out to our friends, family, and community for support. This endurance has made Fernwood NRG stronger and reminded us that in many—if not most—of the things we do, we’re better together. Looking back over the year, there is so much we can be proud of. Our staff and programs continued to meet community needs for family support, child care, food security, and affordable housing during the second year of a global pandemic. And, through all of this, Fernwood NRG also invested in our organizations’ operations and policies to help our staff feel supported in their roles as community leaders. At the start of 2021, our program areas set a vision and team budgets to engage with Fernwoodians and provide much-needed community services. Looking back, it’s amazing to see the difference they’ve made in the context of COVID-19 and increasing demand for community supports. Our family programs now focus on providing wrap-around supports for families with kids in our childcare programs, which means that a family may participate in our Best Babies programming, then enroll their child in our daycare, while also receiving a Good Food Box, and other family supports. This approach means we can better support families who need it the most.
Child care continues to be one of the pillars of our organization - over 100 children participate in our programs! Throughout 2021 we’ve been able continue to participate in the provincial government’s $10 A Day program, giving families access to affordable childcare. Our child care team has perhaps dug the deepest this past year to provide caring, supportive childcare during a time of great uncertainty, exhaustion, and many, many snotty noses. Access to affordable fruits and vegetables—food security—continues to be a key theme we hear from the people we serve. In 2021, we transitioned our community dinner and seniors lunch to take-out options so we could continue to offer much-needed affordable meal options in Fernwood. And— we continued to run the Good Food Box to provide affordable, fresh produce weekly to people in Fernwood and across Greater Victoria. Thank you to the over 700 donors who helped raise $153,000 in the 2021 Gift of Good Food fundraising campaign that will provide 235 families in Greater Victoria with a weekly Good Food Box. You may have noticed Fernwood walls and buildings looking a little brighter since the Fernwood Mural Fest last summer. With support from the City of Victoria, Fernwood NRG launched the outdoor festival with a vision of a telling new stories and building neighbourhood connections through beautiful murals across Fernwood (while also following public health measures!). The Village Vibe is still printing after
Kelsey Singbeil & Eric Swanson
Fernwood NRG Co-chairs Kelsey Singbeil (left) and Eric Swanson (right). Photo: Don Craig
all these years (it started in 2005!), but has a renewed editorial vision. In 2021, each edition had specific theme such as reconciliation and food security. Like many other charities and non-profits, we have not endured the pandemic without lasting and real impacts to our work and staff. In 2021, we said goodbye to the Yoga Den and 1310 Gladstone, a building that we envisioned in 2013 and celebrated its completion in 2018. While it was a sad goodbye, the sale of this building ensured the stability and future opportunities for Fernwood NRG. We also know that it has been incredibly challenging providing frontline services like child care or fam-
ily services over the last year and thank all our staff who may have moved on to new things—and to those that continue to work with us to do this important work. The past year brought us closer together (if not physically). It highlighted how much Fernwood NRG depends on the strength of its staff and the need for ongoing community services in our neighbourhood. But it’s also shown us where we need to invest in and grow our organization in order to support and re-energize our staff and programs. We all dug deep in 2021—let’s celebrate this, and continue this important work to work together to help our organization and neighbourhood flourish. 2021 Annual Report
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