CCO February Newsletter
February is the month when love is celebrated. February 14 has become a day of showing love for that special someone in your life. Valentine’s are sent, flowers given and romantic dinners consumed. I don’t know about you, but that day can have mixed emotions. For those who have someone to celebrate it with, the day can be sweet. But, for those who have no one or have lost a loved one, the day can be painful and lonely.
According to a 2024 survey conducted by the YMCA Canada and Angus Reid, 60% of Canadians feel disconnected from their community.[i] This disconnection occurs because of a lack of social support. On their site, the Government of Canada defines social support as the following: “Social support means feeling loved and cared for, and having a network of family, friends, neighbours, co-workers and community members that are there in times of need.” It also says that 84% of adults surveyed who have strong social support report feeling happy while 85% have high life satisfaction[ii].
There is a direct correlation between being connected to a family, friend, or community group, feeling loved and cared for by that group, and the state of a person’s mental health. To be loved and belong are basic human needs. Humankind was created because God wanted to have relationship. Sadly, sin tore that apart. But God loved us enough to send His One and only Son to save us from being disconnected from Him. He restored the relationship and gave us a way back to being with Him. And He created others so that we could live in community.
Do you have a circle around you who love and care for you in times of need? Or are you feeling lost and alone? Want to find your way back into community but need help in knowing the next steps? Contact us. Our therapists can help you discover a way forward.
And most of all, you need to know that God is with you. Call upon Him and He will answer you.
[i] YMCA Canada, Six in Ten Canadians Surveyed Have Little or No Sense of Community, from https://www.ymca.ca/news/six-ten-canadians-surveyed-have-little-or-no-sense-community-new-ymca-research-reveals
[ii] Government of Canada, Measuring Positive Mental Health in Canada: Social support, from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/measuring-positive-mental-health-canada-social-support.html
A Look Back at 2024
We serve a God who sees us, understands the needs we have and can provide the resources and assistance we need to live more whole and flourishing lives. This is true for everyone as individuals, but also for Christian Counselling Ottawa.
Looking back over 2024, God was faithful. We were able to rebuild our team of therapists into a strong group, offering individual sessions to those as young as age 13 and more couple sessions both online and in person. Our therapists offer sessions in four languages and bring expertise in a wide variety of issues the clients present. Our team continues to participate in professional development allowing us to offer more services as these trainings are completed. Thank you for all your client care, Amanda, Carolyn, Cathy, Ereny, Heidi, Irene, Jan, Jennifer, Jordan, Mariam, Nan, Nathan, Willis and Wintana.
We are thankful for the stability that came through 2024. Our admin and management teams worked hard to streamline processes from intake to payments to note keeping. Stewarding the resources we have been given is a high priority for the Board and the entire team. The therapists completed over 2000 sessions in 2024, 845 of which were subsidized in some form. Individuals and churches donated over $26,000 and with CCO adding to that, we were able to subsidize $50,000 worth of sessions. This was all made possible due to support from generous donors!
As of January 1, 2025, our Board is: Carmen Hust, Chair; Karen Fishwick, Treasurer; Alexis Carty, Secretary; and, Annie Furlan, member at large. Alexander Davidson is our Board advisor as is Craig Hillier, our Executive Director. This group gives countless hours of time and effort to strategize and oversee the charity. Their passion for the ministry and heart for the team and clients is evident in the decisions they make.
Jennifer LeBlanc continues to be our Clinical Director, managing the therapy team, conducting supervision, assigning clients, and participating in decisions regarding subsidies, policies, and processes. Kerri Guther is our Business Director who looks after all the administrative tasks to keep the charity running and up to date with government requirements, third party partners and more. Chelsea Chandler does a fantastic job as our Intake Coordinator. She is our ‘frontline’- getting clients set up for therapy and managing the many inquiries.
We have been working on developing curriculum for a Youth Education Program. We will be offering different topics in a few different formats that will be adaptable for church and community group settings. We look forward to how God will use the team to offer these events throughout 2025!
This January and February, we have had a high number of intake requests which tells us the pressures of our world are not letting up. Many people are looking for help in a Christian context. We are thankful for continued financial and prayer support from the community. Together we can assist those who are struggling with life’s challenges.
Welcome to the Board, Annie!
Annie Ho Furlan
DIRECTOR – BOARD MEMBER
Annie is a proud Vietnamese-Canadian and is currently working as the Legal and Privacy Program Manager at Health Standards Organization and Accreditation Canada. Over her 10 years of legal work experience, she has worked for a renewable energy company, a national non-profit organization and in independent law firms. She served on the Board of Directors for other charities before joining the Board of Directors at CCO. Originally hailing from Toronto, Annie now resides in Ottawa with her husband. Outside the office, Annie is a big foodie, world traveller and loves to kickbox. And when she has extra time on her hands, she likes to compete in national pageants. Annie is fluent in Vietnamese and basic German.
Save the Date:
August 8, 2025 for our Annual Anniversary Golf Tournament
LOOKING FOR:
People to serve on the Board of Directors. If you have time, expertise and sense God leading you to serve in this role, please contact Carmen at [email protected]
Prayer Partners. If you would like to partner with us to pray for CCO, our Prayer Team will send you monthly emails with specific prayer requests. Connect with us at [email protected]