Ve'ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian & Relief Committee

4100 Chesswood Drive, Unit 1
Toronto, ON M3J 2B9
Executive Director: Cari Kozierok
Board Chair: Ron Haber

Charitable Reg. #:88804 2439 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 4/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.

B

RESULTS REPORTING

Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

n/r

DEMONSTRATED IMPACT

The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.

NEED FOR FUNDING

Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.

76%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 76 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Ve'ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian & Relief Committee:

Founded in 1996, Ve'ahavta is a Jewish charity that works to improve the lives of people who are poor or homeless. The charity reports that in Toronto, home to the 2nd highest homeless population in Canada, an average of 5,000 people are homeless on a given night. The homeless population in Toronto has increased 15% since 2018. Ve'ahavta aims to break the cycle of poverty by providing supplies, referrals, personal connections, and skill programs to people struggling to survive.

Ve'ahavta’s Mobile Jewish Response to Homelessness (MJRH) outreach van received 31% of program funding in F2020. For six nights each week, the van drives to places where homeless people congregate in Toronto. Workers and volunteers distribute coffee, food, clothing, hygiene supplies, and sleeping bags. In F2020, MJRH outreach had 31,279 client interactions. The program also distributed 475 harm reduction kits, 160 blankets, and 6,000 pairs of underwear in F2020. 

In F2020, Ve'ahavta allocated 24% of program spending to Work and Life Skills Training. Ve'ahavta Street Academy is a free course offered in partnership with George Brown College. Students are guided on how to meet their own physical, emotional, social, and intellectual needs.

Building Foundations for Women, another training program, also accounted for 24% of program spending in F2020. The program runs for nine weeks, 18 hours per week. Women are supported in building stable lives and moving toward employment or education goals.

Both training courses give participants digital devices with internet access to keep. In F2020, 135 devices were distributed. The training programs had 81 graduates in F2020, up 145% from F2018.

Ve'ahavta’s MYTORONTO photography contest received 9% of program spending in F2020. People who are currently or previously homeless are encouraged to participate by submitting photos that reflect the public’s perspective on homelessness.

Meal Box accounted for the final 12% of program spending in F2020. The program works with MJRH to help give healthy meals to homeless people. In F2020, 4,000 muffins were given out and 390 soups were cooked. 

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Results and Impact

For clients that received a digital device with internet access, 100% reported improved mental health, and 82% reported an increase in finding health information or support services. The device also allowed 79% of clients to increase their job searches and applications. 96% of clients plan to take future courses online with the device. 

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Ve'ahavta’s results and impact.

This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).  

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Finances

Ve'ahavta has donations of $2.4m in F2020. The charity received $762k in government funding, representing 24% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 16% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 25%. For every dollar donated, 75 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Ve'ahavta has $1.2m in funding reserves. The charity could cover 61% or around 8 months of annual program costs with current reserves.

The staff salary and compensation information is taken from Ve'ahavta's annual filing with the CRA Charities Directorate. It looks like Ve'ahavta has made an error in this filing that shows the average full-time compensation in F2020 was $409,353. The average compensation Ve'ahavta pays its full-time staff was $59,550 for 2019-2017. We are seeking more information about this filing.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Ve'ahavta for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on January 8 2022, by Brenleigh Jebb.  

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202020192018
Administrative costs as % of revenues 9.0%7.3%9.0%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 15.4%26.3%25.5%
Total overhead spending 24.4%33.6%34.5%
Program cost coverage (%) 61.2%22.2%22.0%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s
202020192018
Donations 2,397,5292,056,8112,075,115
Goods in kind 00224,665
Government funding 762,348567,572308,000
Investment income 14,4567,8384,882
Total revenues 3,174,3332,632,2212,612,662
Program costs - International 0017,324
Program costs - Canada 1,933,1521,825,3851,839,511
Administrative costs 284,844191,624234,684
Fundraising costs 369,883541,581529,382
Total spending 2,587,8792,558,5902,620,901
Cash flow from operations 586,45473,631(8,239)
Capital spending 83,185(89)10,846
Funding reserves 1,182,881406,080408,807

Note: Ci reported figure for government funding is an immaterial $20k less than what Ve'ahavta reports on its annual T3010 filing as we removed a grant from a private foundation which we included with donations. Similarly, amortization should be reported as a separate line item in its income statement. Ci removed amortization from program costs to show you the cash spending. No amortization allocation was made to fundraising or admin costs.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 4

Avg. compensation: $409,353

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
3
$80k - $120k
1
$40k - $80k
6
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

Charity Contact

Website: www.veahavta.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416.964.7698

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