2019 Annual General Meeting: A Focus on Community & Partnerships

How better to support newcomers the theme

The Abrigo Centre held another successful Annual General Meeting on Thursday, October 26 that recognized the outstanding contributions of three retiring Board members and the importance of social service agencies in Toronto working together to improve the services provided to newcomers to Canada.

Three Abrigo Board members who completed their full six year term were recognized for their dedication and commitment to improving the services Abrigo provides to the community. Board Chair Lisa Melo, Past Chair Humberto Carolo and Sandra Gamboias all proved outstanding leadership during their time on the Board. Executive Director Ed Graca took a moment immediately after the formal portion of the AGM to recognize each for their contributions.

The other highlight of this year’s AGM was a special presentation by Francisco Rico, Co-Director of the FCJ Refugee Centre. Mr. Rico’s presentation was entitled “Creating Partnerships to Remove Barriers for Newcomers.” During his remarks he highlighted the growing influx of  newcomers, including a surge coming from Brazil, many of the social issues they face, and how agencies like Abrigo and FCJ can work together to better serve our clients.

Mr. Rico spent some time highlighting how the two agencies share clients based on their circumstances and the ability of the agency to best serve the client. For example, FCJ has seen an uptick in Gender-based Violence clients and many of them are referred to Abrigo. In turn, Abrigo has seen an increasing number of newcomers without status. This limits them from obtaining a number of social services. Those individuals are referred to FCJ who can provide the expertise to address the client’s needs. This partnership is proving to be very successful.

Abrigo thanks everyone who attended including our clients, funding providers, other social service providers, and the members of the Davenport community.