Annual Report from the Chair of the Board of Directors
Welcome to the 2011 Annual General Meeting for the North Hasting Community Trust.
At the Community Trust it is our mandate to provide low income families, individuals and children with financial assistance and community referrals. This past year has seen much growth and many changes. Not to mention the increased financial difficulty many of our clients have been facing due to the addition of HST on home heating oil and hydro as well as the economic crisis we are still experiencing.
Our coordinator, Lindsay Jolly, has been working hard; to make the changes needed to see the Trust flourish since she took on the role in 2008. One of these efforts has included a continuing partnership with Allison of the Belleville Community Trust in a mentoring program. The North Hastings Community Trust in partnership with Families First and Community Integration have been piloting a local budget counseling service with the goal of reducing repeat clients and creating community partnerships.
Over the past year, we have created a new website and social networking pages on Facebook and Twitter. This has increased our accessibility to clients who are hard of hearing and to those who do not have access to a telephone. These measures also allowed us to create our new annual fundraiser, the Online Silent Auction, which will be even bigger and better in 2012. Social networking increases our ability to promote these events to the community at no additional cost. We also participated in the following fundraisers supporting the United Way of Quinte; Soup of the Day, Thanks For Giving and the United Way Warehouse Sale. We also assisted with the local Twoonies for Tummies fundraiser.
Without the support of our various donors and funders we would not be able to support the most vulnerable members of our community. I would like to take this time to give thanks to the following; United Way of Quinte, Hastings County Social Services, Homelessness Partnering Outreach Strategies, the Community Justice Fund, Bancroft Spiritual Centre, St. John’s Anglican Church, St. Paul’s United Church, and all of the other anonymous donors who supported us in 2010. Finally I would like to thank the North Hastings Community Integration Association for donating their board room to us for our monthly Board meetings, and for allowing us to use their space today.
In 2010, we served over 500 individuals through community referrals or through direct financial assistance. Our requests for assistance consistently go above and beyond our ability to support clients with direct financial assistance indicating that the need is still significant despite our best efforts. Most of our funds in 2010 went towards home heating costs. The second most common request was for help with past-due hydro accounts. Rent is another common need, coming in third.
It has not always been easy, but always rewarding, and on behalf of the Board of Directors, we look forward to another year of working to help alleviate poverty in our community.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Klaassen
Chair of North Hastings Community Trust
