Prepared for the CAEFS Annual General Meeting

2010/2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Prepared for the CAEFS Annual General Meeting

June 1-5, 2011, Hamilton ON

The Elizabeth Fry Society Yukon (EFSY) operates out of Whitehorse, Yukon. We have an active volunteer Board and a part-time (16 hours/week) Outreach Worker.

The 2010/2011 fiscal year marked our first year of operational funding. We receive this from the Yukon Government’s Women’s Directorate through a three-year contribution agreement. This money pays for EFSY’s office space, our Outreach Worker and other basic operating needs (phone, internet, office supplies).

The EFSY Outreach Worker, Cindy Chiasson, deals one-on-one with women who are either incarcerated or recently released from prison, and assists with their re-integration into the community. This is accomplished in a variety of ways, including attending social services appointments, supportive listening and referrals to other community organizations.

EFSY undertook a number of smaller projects in 2010-2011, which are summarized below.

With money from the Northern Extension Project/YWCA, EFSY hired a contractor to review our bylaws and help us develop meaningful policies and operating procedures. We are in the process of passing these.

EFSY also received money from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, through the Homelessness Partnering Strategy. Using this money supplemented by a contribution from the local NGO training fund, and with the generous assistance of E Fry Edmonton, we were able to deliver training in E Fry Edmonton’s Changing Paths program (literacy and life skills). We also used the HRSDC money to contract with an adult educator to develop a series of scenario-based tenant education modules designed to help EFSY’s clientele understand their rights and responsibilities in commonly-faced situations (e.g. sexual harassment, discrimination). A training session for facilitators was conducted and we have made these modules publicly available. Finally, we generated a draft tenant education curriculum modeled on the proprietary Rent Well program used in Portland, Oregon. Over the next fiscal year, we will partner with the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition to further develop this.

EFSY as well benefitted by being accepted into the Capstone Project at Yukon College as the subject organization for a senior project. Two extremely capable communications students generated a logo, a website and a communications strategy for us. We will be working towards implementing the strategy over the coming year.

Finally, EFSY continues to distribute a resource kit to women leaving the local jail. This backpack contains items useful in the days immediately after release and includes grocery, coffee and phone cards, as well as some toiletry items and a list of local resources/social service agencies.

Elizabeth Fry Society Yukon, 23-1114 First Avenue, Whitehorse YT, Y1A 1A3