The Community Service Volunteer Awards program is not currently active. This information is for archival purposes only.
Award recipients for 2004:
Rakel De Freitas
Children and youth services
Currently Rakel serves as a volunteer on the College Montrose Children's Place Program Committee. As a member of this committee, she works with the board of directors, staff and other participants to review and consider the development of new programs or find solutions to program challenges to address local community needs. She also helps staff with the drop-in program setup, provides snacks to children and assisted with the process of developing the Ontario Early Years initiative for her community.
As a volunteer, one of Rakel's greatest strengths is her ability to share her personal challenges to empower other families in the community and dispel their concerns about dealing with agencies like the Children's Aid Society.
Dufferin Mall Youth Committee Members
Children/youth services
This group of 15 young adults, ages 14 to 24, came together to respond to concerns related to violence that was taking place in their schools and communities. As committee members of Dufferin Mall Youth Services they volunteered their time to develop and facilitate a special program called Seeds of Peace.
The main goal of this program was to identify relevant issues, develop strategies and seek solutions for community concerns. The youth were trained in conflict resolution and mindfulness meditation - maintaining a calm inner awareness, balance and clarity in any situation - which enabled them to listen to concerns and recommendations from other youth about youth violence, as well as nurture the positive experience of life and development skills that lead to peaceful solutions. Realizing that collaborations were key to the success of the program, the group partnered with several groups and agencies including the Abrigo Centre, Arrabon House and Toronto Public Health.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Children/youth services
Leah is a queer Sri Lankan writer, spoken word artist, activist and teacher who is dedicated to using creativity as a tool to empower, heal and decolonize by any means necessary. Her work has been published in numerous publications including Colonize This!, Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism and in periodicals including Lodestar Quarterly, Bamboo Girl and Colorlines.
Coming from a background as a harm reduction/queer youth street outreach worker in New York in the early 90s, for the past seven years Leah has been deeply involved in Toronto's queer people of colour arts and activism scene. Since 2002 Leah has designed and facilitated Pink Ink at Supporting Our Youth (SOY), Toronto's only writing program specifically for queer, trans and Two Spirited youth. Her goal is to create the next generation of revolutionary LGTB writers and make a queer positive space for youth involved in spoken word and hip-hop culture.
Bette Kirk
Community and public health services
Bette has been a volunteer with LAMP's Ask! Community Information Centre for more than 24 years. Bette ensures that the most vulnerable and at-risk community members in her community have a place to turn to for help. She voluntarily co-ordinates and staffs the Monday and Wednesday food bank program and ensures that packages meeting religious and cultural needs are ready for the more than 200 families that use the service each month.
Bette is respected and highly regarded by the staff, other volunteers, clients and their families. In addition, for 15 years Bette volunteered at Meals on Wheels where she assisted seniors with their daily food needs. She has served thousands of community members who have sought help at LAMP. Bette even learned Braille so that she could transcribe LAMP's information to make it accessible to the visually impaired. She has also served a term on the board of directors at LAMP and has joined various committees in the Lakeshore community.
Wendy Sutton
Community and public health services
Wendy's volunteer work is dedicated to the support of women and youth services in the health-care sector. For two decades, Wendy has advocated for expanded childbirth options including birthing centres and midwifery services.
While she serves as the president of the Toronto Birth Centre, Wendy is also a member and former chair of the board of directors for Planned Parenthood of Toronto (PPT). During her three years as chair at PPT, Wendy helped focus the organization on responding to the needs of its clients and the broader community, including being more diverse and reflective of Toronto's ethnoracial communities, removing barriers to access and promoting clients' rights. She also guided PPT through the development of the first anti-discrimination policy, created a client rights policy and established new governance and by-laws that demonstrate clear and equitable access to the organization. Wendy also sits on the board of directors of the 416 Drop-In Centre and is vice-chair of the Board of Governors for the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences.
Koyes Ahmed
Community development/community centres
Koyes is an innovative volunteer having founded the Regent Park Residents Advisory group and co-founded the Regent Park Residents' Council, for which he was also elected secretary.
Through radio and television interviews he inspired the residents of Regent Park to get involved in the Revitalization Project workshop. He helps newcomers to the country fill out government forms and encourages local children to join the public library reading, storytelling and poetry clubs. He also organizes local children to participate in the Yonge Street Mission's program TD Securities Computer Literacy.
In co-operation with City of Toronto Councillor Pam McConnell, Member of Provincial Parliament George Smitherman and Toronto Police Service's 51 Division, Koyes has tried to involve residents in addressing the issues connected with violence and crime. Koyes also founded the Network for International Care and Services and recently represented the organization in the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Toronto in early September 2004. He was also chairman of the Islamic Circle of North America and organized a number of youth and children's programs from 1992 to 2004. Koyes' latest volunteer activity involves encouraging Regent Park families to take ownership of their community through the Regent Park Women and Families group.
Judith Stewart
Community development/community centres
Based on personal experience, Judith has an understanding of illness, poverty and neighbourhood violence that helps her carry out her volunteer work in the community. Having overcome her own difficulties, she now gives back to vulnerable individuals and groups whether they are in her immediate co-op or her local neighbourhood.
Judith's approach to volunteering is hands on - where she sees a need she steps in. She helps newcomers to the community fill out income tax forms and advocates for the disabled by serving on the TTC coalition. Judith is also involved with a number of other committees and organizations including the Toronto East Downtown Neighbourhood Alliance, the Community Police Liaison Committee and Central Neighbourhood House (CNH). Through her work at CNH, Judith brings children's programming into an area that has few services for children.
Irene Carriere, Evelyn and Gordon Robertson
NUC-TUCT Drop-Inn and Housing Volunteers
Housing and homelessness support services
This trio initiated, planned and implemented two major programs that meet the needs of vulnerable residents in their community. The idea for an affordable housing project began several years ago and the construction of Lester B. Pearson Place, an affordable apartment building, is scheduled to begin this year. Pearson Place will have 53 units available to low-income families, seniors, single persons and the disabled, resulting in a truly mixed community. This initiative assists the City of Toronto in increasing the availability of affordable housing units and demonstrates a project model that can be replicated elsewhere across the city. Through this project the volunteers demonstrated leadership in negotiating financial support from all levels of government, as well as private sources including individuals, corporations and foundations.
These individuals also lend their time to the Drop-Inn program, which operates weekly throughout the year. Drop-Inn provides a multitude of services to the homeless and hungry including assistance in obtaining replacement identification documents, clothing, breakfast and lunch, legal support, nursing, housing and employment assistance. This program involves Toronto North Support Services community outreach workers, the Community Care Access Centre, Willowdale Community Legal Services and Toronto Public Health. From time to time, this initiative has required negotiation and collaboration with government and community to ensure the ongoing success of the program.
Jessica Roelink
Housing and homelessness support services
Jessica founded Dress Your Best (DYB) in her early twenties after volunteering with a clothing bank that helped the homeless and other people in need of clothing. Noticing that a large proportion of the business attire was left behind she realized there was a market for work-appropriate clothing. Four years later, DYB continues to provide clothing for people with job interviews in order for them to successfully and confidently enter the workforce. Jessica leads her volunteer team to run DYB on a minimal budget. With no paid staff and donated operating space, DYB remains true to the meaning of charity.
All donated clothing that is not suitable as employment attire is given to women's shelters, community homes, homeless programs and young mother and child programs. In an effort to encourage giving, Jessica engages for-profit companies to participate in office clothing drives and volunteer team activities. Jessica shows an abundance of enthusiasm towards helping people and wants to ensure that DYB's service is equally offered to any non-profit agency or its clients.
Chih-Jun Chao
Immigrant and newcomer services
Through personal experience and close contact with other immigrants, Chih-Jun understands the difficulties of being an elderly immigrant including facing language barriers, severe weather conditions, mobility difficulties and financial depravation. Chih-Jun set up a help group in his neighbourhood for Mandarin-speaking senior residents. He co-ordinates leisure activities for residents in the neighbourhood - singing groups, dance classes, tai chi, English classes, arts and crafts, and he co-ordinates birthday parities and outings to help senior immigrants familiarize themselves with their new home city and its customs. Chih-Jun uses his leadership skills and experiences to enhance the development and sense of belonging to the country among group members. He also actively participates in agencies such as Carefirst Seniors and Community Services Association and the Woodgreen Community Centre.
Shi Ye Xiong
Immigrant and newcomer services
Shi Ye organized a series of community sessions with police liaison officers when a murder took place in his neighbourhood and residents were scared and worried about their safety. He wanted residents to come together to discuss community safety and crime prevention in their neighbourhood. Shi Ye established and manages the Federation of Asian Canadians, a not-for-profit organization that supports community events and consultation meetings for the Chinese Consultative Committee of the Toronto Police Service. He also helps new immigrants find employment by allowing access to his computer store to provide training free of charge. Shi Ye's success as a volunteer in the community lies with the fact that he listens to residents' issues and concerns with patience and tolerance.
Severino Centritto
Seniors services
Severino is passionate about life and social action, and works with others to improve his neighbourhood. He speaks on seniors' rights, community services and campaigns for health care with the Toronto Health Coalition. He helped organize the first provincial gathering of Spanish seniors and their organizations in 2002 and he continues to advocate for greater support from the province to community health centres that serve the vulnerable.
Severino challenged prospective federal and provincial leaders on their views and platforms surrounding support for community agencies, poverty, homelessness, public - not private - health care and affordable housing. He took a leadership role in Club Amistad, the Spanish seniors program at Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre (DPNC) where he leads group discussions on the political process, seniors' rights and community development issues around poverty, housing and health care. Severino was DPNC's delegate at two conferences on elder abuse.
Sheherbano Marfatia
Seniors services
Sheherbano is engaged in a variety of community services activities. As a senior peer support volunteer with the Reh'ma Foundation, Sheherbano provides one-on-one and phone support to isolated seniors. She is the tenant representative for her building at Toronto Community Housing Corporation, volunteers with Red Cross and assists Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships in running computer and Internet classes for seniors in her building.
Sheherbano advocates for and provides issue resolution for marginalized seniors with culture and language barriers and helps build understanding among mainstream organizations about the issues and needs of ethnic and newcomer populations. She was instrumental in building collaborations between Reh'ma, the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships, Toronto Social Housing Connections and others. Sheherbano actively networks, provides outreach, translation, transportation and fundraising services and acts as a spokesperson for Reh'ma.
Everyone who was nominated is a winner in the eyes of the City of Toronto through your dedication and efforts to our communities. We hope that you will continue to donate your time, energy and skills, and make sure to apply in 2005 for the Toronto Community Service Volunteer Awards.
Selection Committee
Lorraine Duff
Director, Community Resources
United Way of Greater Toronto
Lorraine Duff brings more than 20 years of community service experience, including volunteering, as a board member of a number of community-based organizations and as a literacy tutor. As the director of Community Resources for the United Way of Greater Toronto, she works with allocation staff to provide funding to United Way member agencies, implement a number of grant programs and train and support volunteers who are integral in the allocations process.
For five years she worked with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) co-ordinating annual allocations to 55 community health centres across Ontario and managing a province-wide asthma prevention, management and education initiative. Prior to her position at MOHLTC, Lorraine was the executive director of the Rexdale Community Health Centre from 1994 to 1999. She was also an agency review and community development officer at the former Metro Community Service department between 1988 and 1994.
Deborah Gardner
Executive Director
Volunteer Centre of Toronto
Deborah Gardner has been involved in social services for 25 years and has been a volunteer for more than 30 years. She has designed and implemented a variety of training programs for women, immigrants and people with disabilities.
Most recently she came from the health care sector as executive director of a hospice that delivered services through volunteers. Deborah brings to the Volunteer Centre of Toronto a strong commitment to the voluntary sector with a diverse background in the non-profit and corporate sectors.
Anita Srinivasan
Leadership and Civic Participation Projects
The Maytree Foundation
Anita Srinivasan manages Leadership Initiatives at the Maytree Foundation. Her voluntary and community interests include participation in elementary and secondary public school councils, various youth recreation initiatives and enthnocultural arts organizations.
She is on the board of directors of People for Education, a premier education advocacy group in Ontario. Anita has worked for a number of human services sector organizations that include the United Way of Peel and Centre for Education and Training.
Anne Swarbrick
President and CEO
Toronto Community Foundation
Anne Swarbrick is president and chief executive officer of the Toronto Community Foundation. She has served as executive director of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange and manager of Toronto Operations for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
Anne also served as a member of the Ontario Legislature from 1990 to 1995, as Ontario's Minister of Culture, Tourism and Recreation and Minister of Women's Issues. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Family Service Association of Toronto and the Advisory Board for the Non-profit Management and Leadership Program at the Schulich School of Business. She is a recipient of the Schulich School of Business 2000 Award for Outstanding Public Contribution.
Lee Zaslofsky
Board member
Toronto Board of Health
Lee Zaslofsky has been a community volunteer in Toronto for many years and serves on the board of the Hassle Free Clinic. Lee has served on the Committee of Management at Scadding Court Community Centre, on the board of directors at Doctors Hospital and as chair of the Community Advisory Committee at Toronto Western Hospital. Lee has also been a member of the City of Toronto Board of Health for many years.
