This past year, more than ever, we have been blown away by your commitment to improving the lives of children living in poverty by supporting their moms. Thank you for recognizing the incredible strength and resilience of Vancouver’s single mothers and jumping in to cheer them on.
In a year that will be known for isolation and fear, your generous support ensured that moms facing the dual challenges of poverty and solo-parenting, didn’t have to go it alone. This year, you built connections and offered practical support as moms scrambled to adjust to school closures, job losses and parenting through the pandemic.
As you read our 2020/21 Community Impact Report, our hope is that you'll see the significant, tangible impact you are making in people's lives. From practical support to emotional encouragement, your participation as a donor, volunteer or champion is truly changing lives. Thank you for caring for the women who are raising our next generation of children. Your love, generosity and encouragement is seen, felt and appreciated.
Warmly,
JUDY & IRENE
Judy Gale, Board Chair and Irene Elhaimer, Executive Director
Your Support
for Moms
When you support Mom2Mom, you help us focus on what we do best: serving moms in a practical, non-judgmental way. Like us, you know that when moms thrive, children thrive.
There are many ways to provide this practical support. Your encouragement ensured that we didn’t skip a beat, even as the pandemic halted daily routines and restricted access to social services.
Relationship Volunteers
Central to our approach is the pairing of each mom with a caring and compassionate Relationship Volunteer. Relationship Volunteers are women from different backgrounds, often who have raised families themselves, and want to use their knowledge to support other moms. These stable, non-judgmental allies offered active listening, and emotional and practical support all year long - in person when it was safe, and otherwise by phone, text or video chat.
“After I lost my own mom, I needed someone who I could bond with and who could help me figure out ‘mom-things’. The moment I met Rebecca, we connected right away.”
Grocery Support
Food insecurity is one of the most significant barriers to a family’s ability to thrive. One in three single parent households in Canada is food insecure. Your gifts this year provided a monthly grocery stipend to every participant mom based on the number of children in her household. The reality is that when there is food in the fridge, moms are able to move out of survival mode and into a space where they can think ahead, start planning for the future, and more.
“Before Mom2Mom, I was constantly worried about food. As a parent, you make sure the kids are fed before you are fed. So I used to go hungry sometimes.”
Compassion Fund
This year, you provided grants to relieve short-term stress, invest in long-term wellbeing, and remove barriers for moms in need through our Compassion Fund. These investments in 2020 included providing extra grocery support as well as covering professional development fees, appliance repair, medical expenses, extracurricular activities and more.
“My boys and I are thankful for the support especially financial to help them with their activities. They both love sports and gained more friends through their sports.”
Community Resources
We’re stronger when we work together. That’s why we’ve built a powerful network of community resources that support moms in all kinds of ways, including youth mental health supports, counselling, clothing, furniture and household items, advocacy, legal support, and career development. Your gifts this past year ensured we could dedicate the time and resources needed to compile this network and spend time connecting moms to all of the support available to them.
“Knowing you are not alone with your children for all aspects of life Is very reassuring. The journey is doable with support, kindness & without judgement.”
By the Numbers
55 Participant Moms
113 Kids
660 Monthly Grocery Stipends
31 Compassion Fund Grants
75 Connected Relationship Volunteers
25 New Volunteers Trained via Zoom
8 Virtual Volunteer Events
0
of participant moms have reported positive changes in their children since joining Mom2Mom
0
of participant moms use the food bank not at all or less than they used to since joining Mom2Mom
0
of participant moms feel they have gained something from their relationship with a Mom2Mom volunteer
0
of participant moms feel more equipped as parents since joining Mom2Mom
“It has been helpful to know that someone has my back when I really need it.”
*Data above was collected from our 2021 Program Evaluation in July.
Meet Janet
Janet is a single mom to Andy, a 13 year old who’s already seen more struggle than your average teenager.
“From late 2018 through early 2020, Andy and I lived in the hospital,” explains Janet. “Andy broke his ankle. Doctors put on a cast, but it was causing him so much pain. Everyone thought he was exaggerating. Turns out there was an infection in his bone and his leg was swelling badly under the cast. His leg was black when the cast came off.”
Most of Andy's ankle bone was destroyed. To get the infection under control, he had to be monitored 24/7. Janet refused to leave her son’s side, so the two of them spent their days at BC Children’s and then later at Sunny Hill for his rehabilitation. When other kids his age were in school, Andy was learning how to walk again.
“While we were in the hospital, I had to move to a new apartment that was wheelchair accessible,” says Janet. “We got to go home for a couple days at Christmas, which was so awesome, but I didn’t have any gifts. Mom2Mom was there with presents and a hamper filled with food and gifts that I wouldn't have been able to afford. Mom2Mom is like family to me.”
“Janet stayed connected to Mom2Mom while she was waiting to be paired with a volunteer, during this time she would come to our office to pick up her grocery gift card, have a visit and have us all laughing! Janet could be real about her struggles and how she was feeling. At Mom2Mom, we provide non-judgemental support, and I think that’s key. Janet had a safe space to have those conversations with us, feel accepted, and supported.”
- Kim, Coordinator of Volunteers, Education and Outreach at Mom2Mom
When Andy was finally able to go home, the pandemic was declared two weeks later. “It feels like we’ve been locked up for three years,” Janet says with a sigh. “We’re figuring out how to do life again, but thanks to Mom2Mom, I never felt worried. If I didn’t have Mom2Mom, I don’t know what I would do.”
This wasn't the first time that the Mom2Mom community has stood behind Janet and Andy. She was originally connected when Andy was in kindergarten. At the time, she and her son were living in subsidized housing after escaping an abusive marriage.
Andy is starting grade eight this year and Janet is looking forward to a season where both of them can thrive.
“My life has been so crazy for the past few years," she says. "But Mom2Mom has been there for me.”
“Janet has been through so much, but through it all she has maintained her incredible sense of humour. She is so personable and resilient and works hard to be there for her son. Andy’s rehabilitation was extremely challenging and put a huge financial strain on the family. Janet was able to access our Compassion Fund, an emergency fund available to moms, to help pay for some of Andy’s rehabilitation that wasn’t covered by MSP, and provide her with a phone to stay connected. Janet told me once that in the past she would have run away from the hard stuff in life, but because she’s part of the Mom2Mom community, she’s here and she stayed.”
- Kim, Coordinator of Volunteers, Education and Outreach at Mom2Mom
Meet More Resilient Moms
Eliza
Eliza joined Mom2Mom after escaping an abusive relationship.
Maggie
Here’s what it can look like to graduate from Mom2Mom.
Evie & Sasha
A mother-daughter volunteer duo!
Carly
Carly used to worry about food all the time.
Hailey
Hailey found her Canadian family through Mom2Mom.
Elle & Pam
A Friendship Story!
Moms & the
COVID-19 Pandemic
“The pandemic has made
- Claire Cain Miller, New York Times, February 2021
At Mom2Mom we saw the tremendous toll that COVID-19 took on single moms. Women were hardest hit by job losses because the industries they tend to dominate, such as hospitality and health care, have suffered the most under COVID-19. Parents were tasked with more schooling than ever before as classrooms became virtual and extracurricular activities were cancelled. Social distancing made drop-in childcare that families depend on difficult to access.
“My stress level was high already before COVID. Now it is very high.”
We stayed in touch with moms throughout the pandemic and continued to listen, learn and find ways to support each family. One thing we heard over and over was how much moms valued the monthly grocery stipend from Mom2Mom. So we reached out to you - our family of donors and volunteers - to see if there was more we could do.
Because of your generosity, we increased our grocery support by $25 a month for each mom. Starting in January 2021, a mom with two kids now receives $125 a month in grocery support.
“As a solo parent of multiple kids, struggling to keep food in the house from paycheck to paycheck was so demoralizing! Since I have been connected to the program I am hard pressed to recall the last time food security was an issue for our family and that’s major!”
Along with the increase in grocery support, your generosity and encouragement enabled us to find new and creative ways to support moms throughout the pandemic:
We partnered with Vancouver-based charity, Backpack Buddies, to get bags of kid-friendly food into the hands of hungry kids weekly while schools were closed.
We met moms in the nearby Safeway parking lot to safely transfer needed groceries, clothes and household items to them.
Volunteers spent many hours on the phone offering encouragement to worn out moms.
Thank you for standing with us and for making all of this possible.
Financial Summary
All Mom2Mom programs and services are provided with the generous support of our family of donors and volunteers. From monthly donors that are a part of our MomSquad to birthday fundraisers and corporate donors, your generosity blew us away.
Individual Giving- $164,185
Corporate Giving- $33,075
Foundation Grants-$356,225
TOTAL grants & donation REVENUE: $553,485
Admin Expenses- $53,786
Fundraising Expenses-$27,067
Programs- $324,408
TOTAL EXPENSES: $405,261
This reflects a summary of the Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative Society financial statements for April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. Detailed statements are available upon request. If you have any questions about your gifts, the impact you are making or how you can do more, don't hesitate to be in touch with us at info@m2mcharity.ca.
Generosity Takes Root
Meet Mary
When it comes to giving, Mary goes back to her roots.
“I grew up on the eastside of Vancouver,” explains Mary. “My parents immigrated from China in the sixties. For a while my Dad had a job on the island and would be gone for weeks at a time, so my mom was on her own raising four kids. We were poor. Sometimes all we had to eat was rice and bottled bean curd.”
A couple of years ago, Mary decided she wanted to be more intentional with her charitable giving. “I was thinking about who and what is close to my heart, and decided to focus on supporting moms.”
Mary chose Mom2Mom because she believes in the pivotal role moms play in creating a positive and nurturing environment for their children. “Moms want to provide every opportunity for their kids, but if you’re underprivileged like my mom was, you can only focus on the basics. I want to help remove barriers so moms living in poverty have a better chance at life for themselves and their kids.”
Mary loves spending time in her garden, cultivating soil and watching her plants grow. “Having the right soil makes all the planting, weeding and harvesting much easier. I feel like Mom2Mom works at the ‘soil’ level. If you address the root of the problem, it changes everything.”
Thank you to Mary and each of you who gave what you could to help moms and their kids last year. Your compassion is felt and appreciated.
A special thank you to
these Mom2Mom Donors…..
Jason Calla
Speedee Transport Canada
Pawel Krzykwa
Bryan E Bell
J.W. McConnell Foundation
Groundswell Cloud Solutions Inc.
Mount Pleasant War Memorial Community Cooperative Association
Face the World Foundation
Olympic International Sales Ltd
Andrea Bolen
BC Baskets of Hope
Jim Intihar
Ross MacDonald
Ashley Miller
Entwistle Family Foundation
Vanessa Marie Johnson
Earlston Investment Corp
Vancouver Foundation
Tara Hallgren
Tiffany Sloan
Mary-Jo Dionne
Spencercreo Foundation
Sunny Marshall
Wayman & Penny Crosby
Robyn Smith
Stewart Marshall
John L Bullock
Peter Klaus Fograscher
Gary S Schajer
Mary Lum
BC Social Venture Partners Foundation
Marie-Paule Redelmeier
Harmelina Fund
Lekie Chand
The Cider House
DataCore Mail Management Ltd.
Health Sciences Association of British Columbia
Run For One Planet Legacy Fund
Phoenix Laurén
Temixw Planning Ltd.
Chris Muzyka
R. Howard Webster Foundation
Connor, Clark & Lunn Foundation
Kate Nova
McLean Group Employee Endowment Fund
Blue Planet Links Foundation
Lillian and Ross Davidson Foundation
Philip and Iris Dayson Family Foundation
Porte Cares Foundation
Anne Walker Beaulieu
Elm Foundation
Lewis Family Fund
Tracy Kwan
Pacific Blue Cross Foundation
Ames Family Foundation
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative Canada
Coast Capital Savings
Michael Gelbart
Nicola Wealth Gives Back
Frank Miller Family Fund
Trinity Central Church
Fograscher Family Fund
Daryl Scott Simpson
The Mom Squad
Encouraging Local Moms All Year Long
The Mom Squad is a caring community of monthly donors that provide grocery support to women facing the dual challenges of poverty and solo-parenting.
Moms regularly face stressful decisions like choosing whether to pay rent and have a roof over her children’s heads, or having food in the fridge so her children can eat. Monthly donors through the Mom Squad ensure that moms in our community don't have to make these impossible choices and have the resources they need to care for their families.
“As a monthly donor, I know I’m helping a mom keep food on the table for her kids. They’re staying healthy and she’s able to be the mom she wants to be. This brings me a lot of joy.”