Alternate Shelter Society
Annual General Meeting
November 24, 2010
Management Report
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
When managing a small non profit it is easy to get bogged down with the negative issues that arise but it is much more rewarding to focus on the positive things that happen. We are still here and continue to do amazing work with the youth in our care. There is a lot of satisfaction that comes with doing good work with inadequate funding and to be recognized for our efforts.
The Social Justice Committee at Capilano College contacted us to meet with them. Every year they do a fundraising campaign for one non profit agency. “5 Days for the Homeless” where the students live outside for five days with the same meager supplies that the homeless have. This year they chose us to fundraise for and are hoping to raise enough to help us pay for accreditation. It is gratifying to meet a group of young people that have such awareness and commitment to the needs of others.
Our Accreditation Survey will be April 28th to 30th; it was originally scheduled for February but due to the Olympics CARF changed it. An incredible amount of work has gone into the preparation for accreditation, but we are ready and confident that we will once again be able to get a three year accreditation. Many thanks to our Accreditation Support Worker Eka, for all her hard work and keeping us calm and focused.
While we did have to pay the entire survey cost of $13,000 there is talk that there could be some money available from MCFD in the coming fiscal year. Once we have had our survey management will continue to explore the possibility of being reimbursed for at least some, but hopefully all of the cost.
Future growth and development must be our focus in the coming year. Fundraising continues to be an area that we fall behind on. We are redesigning our website as we have received feedback that it is not user friendly or informative. We have also signed up with several charity organizations to help us with our fundraising.
Management would like to thank all staff for their commitment and dedication to the youth and the Agency.
Thank you also to our Board of Directors, it is a pleasure to work with you and your enthusiasm and support is greatly appreciated.
Anna Glait,
