This 2021-2022 Annual Report reflects JIAS Toronto’s work from July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. This shortened reporting period reflects a change to our year-end to align with our government reporting. At the start of the fiscal year in July 2021, our agency worked remotely and continued navigating the challenges of COVID-19. Our ability to grow during a pandemic, adapt programs, expand services, pilot initiatives, and deliver impactful programs to our clients is a testament to JIAS’s resilience and agility. After 15 months of COVID response measures, our management team excitedly shifted priorities to capacity building, risk mitigation, and plans to celebrate JIAS’s centennial.

None of us could have imagined how quickly the impact world events in Afghanistan and then Ukraine would have onour organization. JIAS is the only Jewish social service agency in the country solely dedicated to providing settlement services to immigrants and refugees. We are the community leader in our understanding the needs of newcomers and in supporting those in need. The Afghan and Ukraine crises were no different. JIAS was willing. JIAS was ready. JIAS responded by serving as the lead Jewish agency in the country.

Since the onset of the Afghan refugee crisis, JIAS has been working with national and international groups to help bring Afghan refugees to Canada. As the trusted go-to agency, these groups come to JIAS for support. These collaborations have helped bring hundreds of Afghans to Canada, and when they arrive, JIAS will help these refugees rebuild their lives.

With the current war in Ukraine, JIAS has taken a leadership role with Jewish agencies across the country and at federal, provincial, and municipal government tables. It has been bittersweet to welcome, support, and integrate Jewish Ukrainian and Russian refugees arriving in Canada just as we once did when we were founded 100 years ago.

We are humbled by Jewish community agencies that reached out to share their resources and support. Acting with immediacy and strategic collaboration is the only way to save lives and support those now displaced. To our funders and donors, thank you for your unwavering support and faith in the importance of our mission.

Leading a social services agency celebrating its 100^th anniversary is a privilege. JIAS has a proud legacy of elevating, educating, and empowering tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees. We created this legacy by removing barriers, providing support, creating awareness, and making connections so our clients can achieve their dreams, realize their potential, and become self-reliant. We hope you will join us in one of our many centennial celebrations this year.

As I reflect on the agency’s many accomplishments this past year, I am filled with gratitude for and appreciation for the individuals and organizations that help us further our mission.

It is a joy to work with our exceptional employees and volunteers who bring skills, caring, and passion to their work every day. You inspire me, transform lives, and bring light and hope to our clients. I am equally grateful to our stellar board of directors for their guidance, wisdom, and support. You look at our work individually and collectively with multiple lenses and continually assess the long-term implications of short-term decisions. I want to especially thank our Chair, Anna Morgan, for her leadership and generosity during this time of change and unprecedented growth.

Let me also express huge thanks to our referral agencies that provide JIAS clients access to extensive services and support. We also sincerely thank our private sector partners who provide JIAS with the resources to pilot and test ideas to innovate, learn, adapt, and grow.

Working with our primary funders, the federal and provincial governments, and the United Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto is an honour. Your investments help us build a vibrant Jewish community and a strong, inclusive Canada that values all newcomers.

To our many donors, your confidence, trust, support, and kindness motivate us to stretch beyond our imagination and be open to new thinking and possibilities.

We are the first settlement agency in Canada to receive a grant from the Ontario Brain Institute to study the impact of JIAS’s trauma-informed care model on Yazidis, Ukrainians, and Eritreans. Another major research endeavour is our $800,000 IRCC-funded multi-year study in conjunction with the University of Toronto to explore anti-racism through the lens of a newcomer.

At the onset of the war in Ukraine, JIAS piloted a pre-arrival intake model to understand, anticipate, and support the needs of Ukrainians before they arrive in Canada. This data informed our strategies, including new partnerships with Airbnb, Jewish social service agencies across the country, the Canadian Ukraine Immigrant Aid Society, and the Child Welfare Immigration Centre of Excellence. The JIAS  crisis response plan positioned us to meet clients’ needs proactively and provide tools, information, and resources to other agencies. Our bimonthly JIAS Update newsletter, started at the onset of the Ukraine crisis, is now a go-to resource for information and thought leadership.

Ukrainian clients  commonly describe JIAS as their “hope.”  Hope for their future. Hope for their family. Hope for a good life in Canada.

Hope is a powerful force. We see it daily, propelling people forward as they rebuild their lives and social and economic networks in a new country. This feeling is a common thread amongst our refugee and immigrant clients – whether they come from Eritrea, Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Hungary, the United States, and other destinations.

To each of you who have helped us this past year, thank you!