Charting Our Path Forward: 2022-2027 Strategic Plan Progress Update
Hello everyone,
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve officially reached the halfway point in our current strategic plan. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our progress and share where we’re headed next.
Our theme, “Going from Good to Great,” continues to guide our efforts. It represents our commitment to strengthening our foundation, expanding our reach, enhancing our programs and services, and reinforcing our position as a leading social services agency in Western Canada.
These milestones reflect the dedication of our teams, the strength of our partnerships, and our shared commitment to building a more resilient, inclusive, and impactful organization.
1. Structure for Leadership
AIM: By 2027, we will have an organizational structure that is easy to understand, written succession plans for key roles, and a Board focused on governance over operations.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: Leadership continuity remains a top priority. This year, we bid farewell to three long-serving Board members, Carol Brodie, Donald Gordon, and Zach Guy, whose contributions helped shape our agency. We welcomed Larisa Hanssen, Justice Okpalugo, and Steve Wetter to the Board, bringing fresh perspectives and deep expertise. You can get to know our entire Board of Directors a little better by clicking here.
Across the organization, staff continue to step up and support one another during transitions and absences. Succession planning is now embedded in performance reviews for all Directors and Managers, ensuring leadership development is intentional and ongoing.
WHAT’S NEXT: We’re drafting a plan to rename and simplify our program structure. Our goal is clarity – making it easier for external audiences to understand the breadth and impact of our work.
2. Collaborative Excellence
AIM: By 2027, teams will work as well with one another as they do today within one another; shared systems, approaches, and initiatives will be the norm and an enterprise (agency-wide) mindset will thrive.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: In May, we hosted our second All Staff ‘World Café’ event (pictured), creating space for connection and collaboration across programs. These gatherings will now be held every two years to strengthen relationships and foster a culture of shared purpose.
We continue to build strong relationships with other organizations and associations with memberships in over 25 groups across BC and Canada, as well as almost 30 service delivery partners.
We’ve launched a performance-based developmental track for senior leadership, management, and excluded roles. Everyone in these roles has now completed their first review under the new system, with goals designed to align individual growth with collective success.
WHAT’S NEXT: To deepen our understanding and improve how we support individuals in our programs who live with neurodiversity, writing a collaborative paper specifically on autism remains a project in the future.
3. Sustainable Stewardship
AIM: By 2027, strong, sustainable funding models will support all aspects of program delivery, and PLEA’s infrastructure will be fully leveraged to promote program sustainability.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: Caregiver recruitment continues to thrive, with 13 new caregivers joining our agency this year, three from outside our existing networks. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a caregiver at PLEA, give this blog a read.
Financially, we’ve made significant strides, including a $300,000 transfer to the KidStart Legacy Fund and a $150,000 transfer to the Children of the Street Legacy Fund. This accounted for 100% of our 2025 goals and brings us to 68% and 85% of our overall targets.
WHAT’S NEXT: We’ll keep building our caregiver community and maintain the financial health needed to contribute to our Legacy Funds. These funds will one day serve as a financial safety net for programs that rely on grants and donations.
4. Innovative Housing
AIM: By 2027, we’ll have access to appropriate homes for any participant who needs one.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: Discussions around housing options for adult services have evolved into a thoughtful and collaborative planning process. A dedicated committee was formed to align participant housing needs with our organization’s operational capacity, supported by a participant engagement subcommittee to ensure lived experience meaningfully informs the design.
Drawing on a range of resources and sector partnerships, the committee recommended a tri/fourplex housing model outside Metro Vancouver. This model blends elements of our family caregiver support approach, transitional housing, and independent living. It is designed to support participants from the Northwest Territories in building independence, with the long-term goal of helping them return to their home communities, and assisting with reconnecting with their cultures, languages, families, and land.
WHAT’S NEXT: Our plans include searching for an appropriate home that will introduce a new supported housing program, drafting policies and procedures that will guide the new housing program, and strengthening transition plans to assist participants prepare for independent living.
5. Outcomes Measurement
AIM: By 2027, we’ll measure ourselves against outcomes as well as outputs, thereby clearly demonstrating the value of what we do.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: We’ve now completed eight literature reviews and one piece of qualitative research that span the breadth of our programming. These reviews have helped us define what high-quality service looks like across different areas and ensured our practices are aligned with the best available evidence. From there, we’ve drafted theories of change; frameworks that clearly articulate what each program aims to achieve, how change happens, and what success for our participants truly looks like.
WHAT’S NEXT: We’re now in the process of identifying tools to track progress, and mapping where we are compared to where we need to be. This work will help us demonstrate not just that we’re doing good but that what we’re doing works.
6. Ally to Reconciliation
AIM: By 2027, we’ll be well known as a culturally safe place for all and recognized for our allyship with Indigenous communities.
PROGRESS THIS YEAR: This year, we’ve deepened our cultural leadership by welcoming Ernie Cardinal (pictured) as our second in-house Knowledge Keeper, joining Charles Lafferty. Together, they provide cultural guidance that informs our programming and strengthens our understanding of Indigenous worldviews, teachings, and ceremonies.
We continued to care for and use our Sweat Lodge, a sacred space for ceremony and healing. Rebuilt with cultural guidance, the lodge offers Indigenous participants meaningful opportunities to connect with tradition in ways that support identity, wellness, and belonging.
Throughout the year, we hosted a wide range of cultural experiences, including the NAKA Festival, our annual Canoe Wake-Up Ceremony, snowshoeing excursions, traditional language learning, and hands-on activities like bannock-making, drum-building, and crafting smudge boxes and medicine pouches. These experiences foster reflection, cultural learning, and shared connection—for both participants and staff—and strengthen our collective relationship with land, water, and community.
We also supported participants in reconnecting with their home communities, facilitating visits that helped restore essential bonds with family, tradition, and cultural identity. Education remained a cornerstone of this work, with more than 120 staff, caregivers, and board members participating in guided visits to the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School site. These visits, followed by workshops led by Charles Lafferty, created space for truth-telling and reflection on the intergenerational impacts of colonial systems.
WHAT’S NEXT: We’re exploring the development of a formal strategy to guide our response to the TRC Calls to Action and cultural safety. We also plan to recruit a third Knowledge Keeper and expand our Indigenous caregiver network.
I’m proud of the progress we’ve made, and even more excited about what lies ahead. Thank you to every participant, staff member, Board member, caregiver, volunteer and partner who continues to shape our journey.
Together, we’re building something extraordinary.
Tim Veresh, Chief Executive Officer
