Sistering

About Sistering:

Founded in 1983, Sistering helps at-risk, socially isolated women in Toronto who are poor, mentally ill, disabled, homeless, struggling with addiction, fleeing an abusive household or otherwise marginalized. Sistering operates on a ‘trauma-informed and relationship-based model’ and states that a harm reduction philosophy is a core element of all its programs.

Sistering runs two low-barrier Drop-In centers for women in need of basic services such as shelter, food, washroom facilities, and clothes. In November 2015, its Bloor location became 24/7 due to growing concerns of isolated women in the area who had no access to shelters. The charity reports that 2,271 women visited the Bloor 24/7 Drop-In in 2016. Sistering’s two Drop-In locations served 105,117 meals and had 68,763 visits in total during the year, including over 2,500 overnight visits. The charity reports that every day, 30 to 49 women stay the night. Women can access Sistering’s other programs through the Drop-In centers.

Sistering’s Harm Reduction program helps women involved with substance use and/or sex work improve their overall health. The charity runs workshops on safe practices and distributes kits for safe smoking and injections. In 2016, Sistering distributed over 11,000 harm reduction kits and ran 48 harm reduction workshops.

Sistering also offers employment preparation and opportunities to earn supplemental income through two enterprise programs: Spun Studio and Inspirations Studio. The two studios provide training in sewing, knitting, pottery and other crafts to allow members to generate income through sales, exhibitions and commissions. Sistering reports that Inspirations Studio has 30 members as of 2016.

Sistering also offers Support Services such as case support and housing support. Case support staff help women with the healthcare system, criminal justice system and immigration system, while housing support staff help women find stable housing. In 2016, the charity reports making over 6,000 referrals to navigate health, social services, legal and immigration services and close to 600 housing referrals for its clients.

Financial Review:

Sistering is a medium-sized charity with total donations and special events fundraising of $1.2m in F2016. Administrative costs are 11% of revenues and fundraising costs are 8% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, $0.81 goes to its programs, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The charity’s funding reserves of $1.2m can cover only 41% of annual program costs, indicating a funding need.

This charity report is an update that is currently being reviewed by Sistering. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 5, 2017 by Katie Khodawandi.