Dear friends of Bruce House,
As Chair of the Board of directors, I would like to continue my efforts to offer more transparency as to our activities.
It is important for our clients and supporters to understand that as Board members, we have not only moral responsibilities towards the community but also personal legal responsibilities. I know that may sound quite daunting but if we act responsibly and our actions are honest and sincere, and our work is in the best interest of Bruce House, there is no need for concern. We must, however, as responsible Board members, ensure that the work of the agency respects its mandate to offer the best possible services within the limits of the funding we receive. An important part of this involves developing a workplan for the Board. This will direct our actions in ensuring that Bruce House executes its mandate in a manner that best ensures that the services meet the needs of our clients.
In our attempts to do this, the directors of Bruce House have benefited from a free Board Training Session offered by the OODSP (Ontario Organizational Development Program) over one evening and one day. A facilitator, John Miller, guided the Directors throughan exercise whereby we reviewed our roles and responsibilities towards both the agency and the community it serves.
With the help of John, we also developed a work plan that will help us guide the agency in its future development. Based on our Strategic Plan (available on our web site), we developed objectives, actions to meet those objectives, timelines to guide us. John also facilitated a similar exercise with staff to coordinate our work together. I believe Bruce House and its clients will benefit from this.
If there are any topics you would like covered in these messages, or if you have questions, suggestions,…you can contact me at : renexrivard@brucehouse.ca.
René