New Circles Community Services

New Circles began...

in January 2005, as Circle of Warmth in the Flemingdon Park Plaza. Our name was changed to New Circles Community Services in September 2007, to reflect our new mission and vision.

Our Mission...

is to promote equity and dignity by providing services and clothing to enhance the day-to-day lives of the people we serve.

Our Vision...

is to build connections and caring communities.

Our Core Values...

The Board, staff and volunteers believe in and demonstrate in their behaviour the core values of New Circles. All New Circles staff and volunteers are expected to demonstrate agency values in all work that is carried out by the agency.

Respect: To demonstrate respect to the people we serve, the agencies, schools and organizations we work with and the staff, volunteers and donors who support us.
Caring: To care for the people who live and work in the communities that we serve.
Integrity: To create a safe, non judgmental, environment that ensures honest and open communication with all of our stakeholders while also maintaining client confidentiality.
Diversity: To honour the different cultures, ethnicities, religions and identities of our community.

Our Impact

In 2009:

2100 families received winter coats
5100 pairs of shoes were given away
500 linen items found new homes
465 people received gifts and groceries through our Holiday Angel program
50 agencies referred their clients to New Circles

New Circles is...

a not-for-profit social service agency that strives to help residents of the City of Toronto, with a focus on those residing in the Flemingdon Park, Thorncliffe Park and Victoria Village communities who need our support. Our primary service is our clothing program which provides new and gently used clothing for men, women and children.
We also offer specialized programs to meet the needs of the community:
New Circles is located in Flemingdon Park, a neighbourhood bordered by Eglinton East, Don Mills Road and the Don Valley. Flemingdon Park was first developed in the 1960s as one of Canada's first low-income housing development. Its purpose was to provide housing for the influx of immigrants who were coming to Toronto.
To this day, Flemingdon Park is the home of many of Toronto's newest residents and the neighbourhood has a proud tradition of diversity. A study of the area found that its 20,000 residents speak over 80 different languages, the most common being Tamil, Chinese, Farsi, Gujarati and Tagalog. Over 70% of Flemingdon Park's residents are immigrants and of these, almost 40% have come to Canada in the past 5 years.
At last count, approximately 36% of Flemingdon Park are living in poverty. New immigrants are particularly vulnerable to issues of poverty; over 65% of Torontonians classified as very poor, are newcomers.
We are proud to be a part of the Flemingdon Park neighbourhood and we believe that our location helps us achieve our main objectives, which is to:

"We, as clients, feel safe shopping here and we save money. The quality of the clothes is very good."

support the disadvantaged and new immigrant families
provide people with the basic tools needed to begin a happy and productive life in Canada
promote dignity, understanding and respect

Some of the People at New Circles are...

Jane Craig: Executive Director jane@newcircles.ca
Cindy Blakely: Chair of the Board and Coordinator of the Holiday Angel Program cindy@newcircles.ca
Alma Popovic: Clothing Manager alma@newcircles.ca
Mariela Puerta: Intake/Community Worker mariela@newcircles.ca
Lauren Ainsworth: Administrative Assistant info@newcircles.ca
Nita Saini: Volunteer Coordinator volunteer@newcircles.ca

New Circles Board of Directors

	Cindy Blakely, M.S.W. R.S.W. Chair of the Board Cindy Blakely is one of the founders of New Circles and has been an integral part of the organization since inception. Cindy has spent more than 35 years in the field of social work. She has focused on child welfare, school social work, bereavement counseling and program development. She has been a sessional lecturer in group work at the School of Social Work, University of Toronto and has been a field supervisor for Social Work and Divinity students. Cindy is the co-author of three children's books from The Lookout Safety series. She has held board positions for many not-for-profit organizations and is currently a Board member for The Child Development Institute as well as a Patron of the Distress Centres of Toronto.
	Peter Blaiklock, C.A. Secretary-Treasurer of the Board Peter Blaiklock, is one of the founding directors of New Circles Community Services. Peter has senior financial and operations responsibilities for the companies in the Likrilyn Capital Corporation group of companies. Prior to joining Likrilyn in 1996, Peter was a Partner in Ernst & Young's Financial Services and Information Systems Assurance groups. He had an eighteen-year career with Ernst & Young in Canada and Australia. Peter received an H.B. Comm. degree from Carleton University and earned his Chartered Accountant's designation in 1980. He has held a number of board positions in several not-for-profit organizations.
	Paula David, Doctor of Social Work Dr. Paula David is from Toronto, and has been part of New Circles since it began. She is proud to be working with community members to build strong and safe neighbourhoods for children and their families. Paula has five children, all of whom, along with their partners have been actively involved in one way or another with New Circles. She is a social worker and teaches Social Work at the University of Toronto, specializing in Gerontology.
	Sally Palmateer, M.Ed, Director of Girls & Family Programs & Property Services, YMCA Toronto Sally Palmateer (M.Ed.) is Director of Girls & Family Programs & Property Services at YWCA Toronto and joined the Board of New Circles in the fall of 2009. She has over thirty years work experience in the social services sector and seventeen years management experience with a wide variety of programs for women and girls including transitional housing, employment readiness, life skills training, childcare, family support programs and girls� programs. Sally has participated in many boards and community advisory committees throughout her career, believes strongly in neighbourhood-based services and is thrilled with the possibility of making a contribution to New Circles.
	Jodeme Goldhar, M.S.W. M.HSc., Management Consultant Jodeme Goldhar is a management consultant who specializes in strategic and operational planning and implementation, program development and evaluation and corporate governance. She has both a bachelor and masters degrees in Social Work and a Masters Degree in Health/Business Administration. Prior to opening her own management practice in 2005, Jodeme worked initially as a social worker and then occupied a variety of leadership positions in the long term care health system. In addition to her professional practice, Jodeme is a volunteer member of the New Circles Board of Directors as well as a board member for other not-for-profit organizations.
	Linda Sims, Business Journalist and Broadcaster Linda Sims is director of media relations for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. She joined CPP after a career in broadcasting, specializing in business reporting for Canadian Networks and programs such as Canada AM, CBC�s Venture, and BNN � Business News Network. Linda has also taken an active interest in community service. She is involved in a number of fundraising and community projects through Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church, and it was through the church that Linda was first introduced to New Circles. Linda was immediately drawn to the organization�s mission and its goals, and hopes her communications skills and business knowledge can help New Circles as it grows and expands its services.
	Shila Desai, FCCA, Owner, international garment manufacturer Shila Desai started her 20 employee garment manufacturing business together with her husband twenty years ago upon immigrating to Canada from Kenya via the UK. Her first home in Canada was in Flemingdon Park, the same community in which New Circles is based. Today the business is ISO 9000-2009 certified, employs over 300 people locally, in Sri Lanka and the U.S., and exports technical clothing to armed forces. She brings strong business skills, access to an industry-wide network, and a desire to help the wider community that gave her a start. She has held various voluntary leadership positions, including founding president of a seniors� arts organisation. Shila is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (U.K.)
	Mohan Swaminathan, Associate Creative Director, Guidelines Advertising Mohan Swaminathan is an accomplished advertising, marketing and communications professional with over two decades of global experience in consumer goods, publishing and real estate. Mohan is a creative writer as well as an originator of ideas and strategies to sell, persuade, communicate and market virtually anything. Currently Mohan is an Associate Creative Director at Guidelines Advertising in Toronto. Before moving to Canada in 1999, Mohan worked in Dubai with internationally renowned ad agency DDB, spinning award-winning campaigns for Volkswagen, Sony and HSBC. Through the 80�s and early 90�s he worked in the Bombay ad world, pitching Unilever brands to the world�s fastest growing consumer market. A true global citizen, Mohan is fluent in 7 languages and a passionate advocate of cultural diversity in all walks of life.

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