ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Our Impact
A Message from the Executive Director
Family Service League (FSL) is one of the many non-profit organizations nested in Essex County, NJ. What makes FSL unique, however, is our dedicated team of staff, interns, volunteers, and Board members who have a devout understanding and belief in the core of our agency's mission.
With almost 150 years of history under our belt, FSL has weathered many storms, including the Covid-19 pandemic, by remaining true to its mission to serve with care and remain versatile. To maintain the crucial services we offer, FSL team has taken all necessary steps to continue its operation with the utmost compassion and attention.
As the world continues to face the long-term impacts of the pandemic, we have made important changes to our service delivery, such as using telehealth options and offering the possibility of hybrid work to our staff, which enabled us to not only increase the productivity of our team but also decreased the chances of burnout in our clinicians and advocates.
In 2024, FSL services continued to grow in trend with the steady uptick of service demand we have seen since 2019. Our team grew stronger through the continued professional development opportunities we offer in-house and procure externally. Our emphasis on team-based work ensures the needs of our clients are met in an empathetic, dignified, and seamless way; this is a testament to our dedication to helping those who are most vulnerable.
While both mental health and interpersonal violence, especially domestic/sexual violence, are still considered taboo to discuss within our society, at Family Service League, we work with those who face these experiences on a daily basis. Our goal is to help and assist our clients to reach their potential to cope with crises and create meaningful and healthy relationships.
I am grateful for the great FSL team, our Board of Trustees, the support we receive from our community, and our clients for trusting us. To many more successful years together!
Nur S. Kalyoncu
Executive Director
Financials
2024 Income
FSL heavily relies on restricted grant funding that can be rescinded at any time. This means our donors and their contributions are crucial in continuation of our work.
Donations Comprise
3% of Overall Income
Roughly 85% of our Funding Goes Directly to our Programs
Key Accomplishments
At Family Service League, we strengthen and support those seeking counseling for any life event, sexual violence advocacy services, and/or sexual violence prevention education.
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Maintaining Doxy
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Counseling Program transitioned services to Doxy, a HIPAA compliant virtual counseling platform in March 2020. In-person counseling services were resumed in June 2020, while still utilizing Doxy. Clients continue to be given the option to receive in-person or virtual services. In 2024, our clinicians held 2,429 virtual sessions, which is about 37% of al counseling sessions.
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Bilingual Services
Clinicians held sessions a total of 583 language-specific sessions in three languages: 484 sessions in Spanish, 31 sessions in Portuguese, and 68 sessions in Haitian Creole.
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Uber Rides
In 2021, Family Service League piloted a program with Uber to provide rides for survivors of sexual violence to counseling sessions and accompaniments. When this pilot program ended, FSL maintained this commitment to provide rides to survivors and their significant others. In 2023, FSL provided 575 rides to survivors and their significant others to counseling and accompaniments. In 2024, FSL provided an astounding 601 rides to survivors of sexual violence and their loved ones, an increase of 6% compared to 2023.
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Training the Future
A total of 12 interns were trained to become the new generation of clinicians, therapists, or counselors by our prominent Clinical Director, Wally Weikert. FSL also had 5 clinical volunteers in 2024.
SAVE also welcomed 2 interns this year, who assisted with the operating of our sexual violence program.
By the Numbers in 2024
Service to the Community
Through FSL's Counseling and SAVE of Essex County Programs:
Awards
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NJBIZ 40 Under 40
Each year, the NJ BIZ 40 Under 40 Award recognizes NewJersey's business leaders, under the age of 40, who share a commitment to business growth, professional excellence, and their community. Family Service League/SAVE of Essex County is proud to congratulate our very own Executive Director, Christine Ferro-Saxon, as one of this year's recipients of the award.
Christine is an essential, compassionate, and dedicated warrior in advocating for survivors of sexual violence, on top of making sure that the agency remains fully operational on a daily basis. Her initiative to prioritize our client's mental health needs throughout this pandemic has brought reassurance to our community during this unprecedented time. She truly encompasses the mission at the heart of FSL/SAVE. Her leadership and expertise are valued within our profession and her extensive knowledge contributes to our community’s mission to end sexual violence. Congratulations, Christine, on behalf of everyone at FSL/SAVE on a well-deserved award and monumental recognition.
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NJCASA Sexual Violence Service Champion Award Recipient
Our Volunteer Confidential Sexual Violence Advocate, Pamela Johnson, was selected as one of this year's September Celebration of Champions' Honorees by the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Pam has been a CSVA with SAVE of Essex County since 2013. In 2019 alone, Pam provided over 3,200 hours of coverage on our 24/7 emergency hotline and accompanied 41 survivors of sexual violence (23% of SAVE's total accompaniments in 2019). She has impacted the lives of 100s of sexual violence survivors and their significant others. The virtual celebration was held on September 25th and she received recognition and praise from New Jersey's statewide sexual violence professional network.