Message from the Chair & President

This year, we broke ground at our newest affordable housing site at 1117 Gerrard Street East. We are already one of the largest non-municipal affordable housing providers in Toronto, and we are excited to be adding new, much needed units to Toronto’s stock of affordable housing. Formerly home to the Riverdale United Church, 1117 Gerrard Street East will be transformed into a five storey, 36 unit affordable housing complex for seniors.

In early March 2018, WoodGreen was honoured to host Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to our 989 Danforth Avenue location. The Prime Minister visited with WoodGreen staff, clients and volunteers to learn more about our Financial Empowerment Services for people living on a low income.

Our Newcomer Services team rolled out an expanded Newcomer Youth Soccer League thanks to a generous donation by Major League Soccer and MLSE, and youth in the program got to meet members of the Toronto FC team just before they won the Championship!

Our work developing and piloting new, sustainable and effective models of social programming continues within our Strategy & Innovation team. A brand new holistic program, Free 2 Be (Housing First for Youth Leaving Care) has kicked off with the first cohort of participants entering the program this summer. With initial funding from the Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab, Free 2 Be aims to improve the life outcomes of young people transitioning out of the child welfare system by providing access to stable housing, life skills, social connections, wellness, education and employment supports.

Lastly, we’d like to welcome the newest members of The WoodGreen Foundation Board of Directors. This team of philanthropic experts is ensuring WoodGreen has the resources we need to continue to ideate, research, pilot and scale some of the most innovative and sustainable social programming in Canada.

It is a pleasure for us to serve WoodGreen in our roles as Chair and President & CEO. We’d like to thank the 750+ staff members, 1,000 volunteers and each of WoodGreen’s generous donors for your incredible efforts as we work to create a Toronto where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Sincerely,