December 19, 2022
The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the past twelve months, to think and plan for the future- and to count our blessings too. 2022 will go down in the books as a year of resilience and new beginnings for St.Amant.
This time last year, we celebrated the holidays with Covid-19 and rang in the New Year with staggering levels of illness, worry, and staff shortages. Thanks to vaccines, most illness was mild. But we all know that the pressures we faced were very real.
Things took a turn in the spring. We finally began to emerge from our Covid cocoons. We dusted off our strategic projects and the other priorities that had been on pause for too long. What a joy to reconnect with each other, to get back to fun activities, and to rediscover the meaningful work we all missed! That said, the emotional strains of the last two years are still with us. Anxiety and burnout are everywhere in our world; St.Amant is no exception. With all of the challenges we face, both personally and as an organization, it is more important than ever to commit to compassion for each other and ourselves.
In June, We said goodbye to John Leggat, St.Amant’s CEO for the last decade. I’ve had the honour to lead and to learn from you since June. I’m grateful to have walked the path with everyone here at St.Amant through the pandemic. We share that experience and common understanding. Over the last six months, we have been consistently hearing excitement to move forward, with questions around what that looks like for St.Amant.
Although I don’t have a crystal ball, I am certain that St.Amant will continue to focus on meeting unmet needs in our community and delivering high quality person-centred services from a place of compassion. Our mission and our drive to support people with disabilities to live full and meaningful lives, to be full citizens, will not change. We will continue to adapt and grow in order to meet the evolving needs of our community. Our dedication to advocacy, to community, and to innovation will only grow stronger.
Over the next few months, we will take some time to reimagine how we work together and to restore our energy. We will continue conversations about the future with our stakeholders. We are extending our current strategic plan by one year to give our team a chance to complete projects that were long on hold. We will also use that time to truly listen to our community and learn how we can best be of service. We look forward to those conversations and to hearing from each and every one of you.
I would like to thank St.Amant’s Board for its ongoing support and high level of engagement. The Board’s commitment to St.Amant’s mission and strategic direction is absolutely critical to our success. In the spirit of gratitude, thank you also to our colleagues from the St.Amant Foundation, the Foundation Board and to all of our donors. They make it possible to do so much more for the people we support.
Throughout this year, you have shown resilience, and kindness. Thank you: two small words that contain a whole heart’s worth of feeling. I am incredibly grateful for this community and for all of you. The most important things in life are not material. I wish you health, connection, joy and all the best over the holidays and into the New Year.
Ben Adaman
President & CEO