Dear fellow Vincentians;

As we begin another new year, we have many hopes as well as concerns about the plight of those we serve. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, loneliness and despair remain as a way of daily life for many. While we must continue doing what we`re doing to alleviate the suffering of our friends and neighbours in need, we must also challenge ourselves to do even more and to look at new ideas in regards to providing this assistance. There is no doubt that if we embrace social justice along with our charitable work, we can improve our ability to make a real difference in both the lives of those we serve as well as our own. If we can offer hope for a better future to all, will not our own spiritual commitment to our mission and Jesus increase. I believe it will.

Renewal

The coming year will see some internal changes of our organization here in Ontario. My term as president shall end on July 1st and the term of our recently elected president, Linda Dollard, shall begin. This change offers a great example of the concept and need for renewal. We have presidential terms in our Rule for all levels of the Society but renewal is much more than simply complying with the Rule. Renewal also provides an opportunity for change and growth by allowing other Vincentians to take on more responsibilities within the Society. There is no doubt in my mind that we have many Vincentians at the conference level who would welcome the opportunity to take on a larger role in the Society. There is also a good number of our members, or even possible new members, who have experience in various fields that could be a real asset to our efforts in addressing poverty in Ontario. Renewal is more than the position of president. It is also about growing as an organization at all levels. I am looking forward to new ideas and changes at the regional level under the leadership of Linda and am excited to see what the future holds. There is an important role for past presidents too and one which I look forward to.

We currently have many conference presidents who are either nearing, or have surpassed the end of their term of office. I am also aware of the various reasons given for not having found a replacement. Our Ontario regional council also needs to provide more support and resources to assist all councils and conferences with a succession plan. I would ask all presidents who are near or past their term to work towards finding a replacement by July 1st, 2016. In this regards I have asked Mary Grad to develop a renewal plan that will assist our presidents in this important project. In addition, I must stress that our council presidents who are approaching or have passed their terms to provide leadership to their conferences by ensuring they have a replacement in place by July 1st, 2016.

Social Justice

I shall continue to be active in this area as chair of our national social justice committee and I strongly believe there is real need for us to address issues that keep our friends and neighbours in need living in poverty. We can and must make a difference by speaking out on issues, developing and implementing programs and collaboration with others on social justice topics. Please help by appointing a social justice rep for your council or conference and submitting this person`s contact information to our Ontario office. This will allow us to communicate and support your local efforts.

Annual Reports

It is once again that time of year for all conferences and councils to begin the process of completing their annual reports. You will be getting a friendly reminder from Sarah Davidson about this process. Please help Sarah by submitting your reports accurately and completely and within the timeframe as she has a lot of work to inputting all of this data in time for us to submit our report to national.

Electronic, printable copies of these reports and guidelines to complete are on both the National and Ontario websites www.ssvp.ca and www.ssvp.on.ca

Thanks again to all Vincentians for their efforts in the past year and Iet`s look forward to 2016.

Sincerely
Jim Paddon