ANNUAL REPORT 2023
Our Impact
A Message from the Executive Director
As we approach the close of another transformative year, I find myself reflecting on the great things we've undertaken, here at Family Service League. 2023 has been a year of challenges, growth, and collective achievement, and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished.
In the face of unprecedented circumstances, our counseling and SAVE teams' resilience and adaptability shone through, allowing us to serve our clients, overcome obstacles, and emerge stronger. Whether it was navigating the complexities of helping survivors, embracing innovative solutions for hybrid work, or fostering a culture of support and collaboration, each member of our team played a crucial role in our success of expanding our services this year by roughly 11%.
As we take a moment to pause and celebrate our collective achievements, it's important to express gratitude for the dedication and hard work that defines our agency. Our commitment to excellence and quality service has not only propelled us forward but has also set the stage for even greater accomplishments in the coming year.
As we bid farewell to 2023, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of our staff members, volunteers, interns, supporters, donors, and board members for your unwavering commitment to our mission, positivity in the face of adversity, and passion to take our work further.
Thank you for all your support in 2023. Family Service League is so grateful to our community, our funders, our clients, and all those who show continuous support of our mission to provide quality, affordable, trauma-informed services to those in need.
We look forward to seeing what 2024 has to bring.
Nur S. Kalyoncu
Executive Director
Financials
2023 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FSL heavily relies on restricted grant funding that can be rescinded at any time.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
Less than 1% of Overall Income
Roughly 85% of our Funding Goes Directly to our Programs
2023 Expenses
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 2023, our clinicians held 2,390 virtual sessions, which is about 38.9% of all sessions (+/- 3%).
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Bilingual Services
Clinicians held sessions a total of 553 language-specific sessions in three languages: 428 sessions in Spanish, 71 sessions in Portuguese, and 54 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.
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Training the Future
A total of 11 interns were trained to become the new generation of clinicians, therapists, or counselors by our prominent Clinical Director, Wally Weikert.
By the Numbers in 2023
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.