Dedicated to improving the quality of life for persons living with Epilepsy

“Volunteers are the heart

and soul of our agency...

“It is because of the

dedicated commitment to

volunteerism and

fundraising initiatives that

we all succeed and grow

within our local

communities”

September 16th

, 2017

2016 / 2017

ANNUAL REPORT

Page 1

Table of Contents 1

About Epilepsy South Central Ontario 1

A Letter from Our CEO 2

A Letter from Our Board President 3

2016 / 2017 Board of Directors 3

2016 / 2017 Staff 4

Purple Gala 2018 5

Statement of Operations Year End April 30th, 2017 6

The Many Faces of...Epilepsy South Central Ontario 7-8

The H. O.P.E. Award 2016-2017 9

Volunteers 2016-2017 10

2016 / 2017 Year-at-a-Glance 11

2017 / 2018 Proposed Year-at-a-Glance 12

Corporate, Grant and Foundations 13

Sponsors, Partners and Supporters 14

Location & Contact Information Back Cover

Table of Contents

About Epilepsy South Central Ontario

Our Mission

Epilepsy South Central Ontario is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people living with seizure

disorders through counseling and support services.

Our Vision

Increasing public awareness via outreach, individual/family counseling and working with select forums,

Epilepsy South Central Ontario strives to educate and encourage understanding within our community.

Our Values

Equality and mutual respect of all individuals,

Fostering successful, fulfilling lives for families and persons living with epilepsy,

To encourage everyone to attain positive solutions when challenged,

To conduct ourselves in a supportive, non-judgmental manner with all members and participants.

Page 2

Our most significant change in the 2017 fiscal year is the new name

Epilepsy South Central Ontario as a result of our expanded coverage area to

Kitchener-Waterloo Guelph, Dufferin & Wellington Counties. It was

appropriate to change our name to reflect this expansion and we now cover

a population of nearly 4 million, making us one of the largest Epilepsy

agencies in Canada with population and geography combined.

My role is largely to bring in the funding for our expanding programs and

services provided at the agency with a dedicated, committed and qualified

staff. I also hold other positions that expand our horizons, resources and

hopes to a larger scale provincially, federally and internationally.

Together with Epilepsy Ontario we are seeking larger scale funding to support the Clinic To Community program model

we are currently piloting in our area, gathering data to support the critical need for families to receive community support

immediately following diagnosis.

The Canadian Epilepsy Alliance (CEA) is the national organization of grass roots epilepsy agencies supporting epilepsy

patients in the community. As Treasurer of the CEA, I have the opportunity to meet monthly by telephone and annually in

person to share ideas, concerns and resources with my colleagues across the country ultimately benefiting the work we do

at the community level.

Neurological Health Charities Canada (NHCC) is a coalition of organizations that represent people with brain diseases,

disorders and injuries in Canada. As the “Epilepsy” representative for the CEA I participate in advocacy days at Parliament

Hill with MP’s and policy makers; The NHCC recommends the Government of Canada to commit to developing a

National Action Plan for brain health.

A partnership we continue to build is with Matthew’s Friends Canada, dedicated to the ketogenic diet therapies for

epilepsy treatment in Children and Adults.

Our growth continues to be steady and stable and we endeavor to continue to improve quality of life for those living with

epilepsy and their families.

A Letter from our CEO

Cynthia Milburn

CEO

Page 3

2016-2017 was a year of great growth for the organization. With the

addition of the Waterloo-Wellington service area to our responsibilities

we’ve changed our name to Epilepsy South Central Ontario (ESCO). We

now serve a population of 3.7 million, over 1 out of 4 Ontarians. Every day

5 people in our service area are given the diagnosis of epilepsy. Estimates

vary but there are 35,000 to 40,000 people living with epilepsy to whom

ESCO is tasked with giving support.

Epilepsy support organizations across Canada continue to be seriously underfunded given the benefits they are capable of

delivering. Volunteers play a large role in enabling these organizations to do so much with so little. ESCO is no

exception and on behalf of the Board I want to thank the small army of volunteers for their efforts, be they involved in

fundraising, epilepsy awareness events or peer/mentoring support.

In Ontario, epilepsy support organizations such as ours are being written into the epilepsy treatment guidelines. It is my

hope that this will be accompanied by an appropriate level of funding.

On behalf of the Board, I want to recognize and thank the staff for their exceptional efforts and commitment to the cause.

Those living with epilepsy in south central Ontario are very fortunate to have a team of their calibre to support them.

Since our last Annual General Meeting, 3 Board members have resigned: Carolynne Shipp, Jan Rodman and Ernie

Cavallin. My thanks to each of them for their service. We have also added 2 new Board members: Sarah Mitchell from

the Hamilton area and Tejal Patel from Kitchener-Waterloo. Welcome to you both.

A Letter from our Board President

2016 / 2017 Board of Directors

Jim Cheesman

Board President

Ernie Cavallin

Secretary

Kim Seidl

Director

Tejal Patel

Director

Michael McHugh

Director

Sarah Mitchell

Director

Betty Franklin

Director

Eduard Bercovici

Director

Jan Rodman

Treasurer

Page 4

Epilepsy South Central Ontario maintains an emphasis on the needs of the epilepsy community while gaining

ground creating awareness and building our profile. Each year we have consistently made a larger impact and for

that we are to accredit our dedicated staff, board and volunteers who together were steadfast in unity to fulfill

the Mission, Vision and Goals of EpilepsySCO.

2016 / 2017 Epilepsy South Central Ontario Staff

David Charchalis, SSW

Chief Operating Officer—Halton Peel Hamilton

Jennifer Lyon

Chief Operating Officer - K.W. Guelph

Errol Chapman

Finance

Nicole Palmieri, B.A., SSW

Community Engagement and Program Manager

Jasmine Morante, BSW

Social Worker, Client Services Manager

Andrea Dent

Youth Services Manager

Trevor Gordon

Media Relations Manager

Page 5

We will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary!

For more information regarding The 6th Annual Purple Gala, please send an email to:

gala@epilepsysco.org

The 6th Annual Purple Gala 2018

Saturday March 31st, 2018

A few faces from the Purple Carpet at the 2017 Purple Gala “Hollywood Glamour”

Page 6

2016-2017 Statement of Operations

Bruce G. Drysdale , C.P.A., C.A.

Page 7

The many faces of...

Page 8

Page 9

The Caroline Cunningham Foundation

CARE-ALIVE

The H.O.P.E. Award is presented to an individual or

group who has made an outstanding commitment to

improving the quality of life for people with Epilepsy.

Care-Alive™ (The Caroline Cunningham Foundation for

Epilepsy) was started by Caroline’s family and friends in

2009, after her death from SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained

Death in Epilepsy) in 2007, at the age of 32.

The goals of the foundation are to care for those living with epilepsy by providing support for individuals and

their families and to raise awareness of both Epilepsy and SUDEP.

Care-Alive has been supporting Sunny Days Camp since 2010. It is because of this support, and the support

from the Purple Gala that we are able to continue Sunny Days Camp, giving the kids an amazing summer of

learning, bonding, building, laughing. Most recently, through the very generous donation to our Youth

Empowerment Program, we are pleased to announce The Caroline Cunningham Epilepsy Centre for Youth and

Young Adults.

The 2016-2017 H.O.P.E Award

Page 10

Volunteering

Epilepsy South Central Ontario

2016-2017

We once again had over 225 volunteers working our Annual Charity Gift Wrap at Shoppers

World Brampton and Conestoga Mall.

We returned to Oakville Ribfest, Brantford Ribfest, Mosaic Festival, Port Credit Buskerfest.

We were present at Volunteer Fairs across our region spreading awareness and education.

We had volunteers working at The 2016 Purple Gala, Zehr’s Awarness Month (provincial initiative),

Sobey’s for Epilepsy, Wings Up 4 Epilepsy, .

We participated for our 7th year at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

New awareness events for volunteers are being created in the K-W Guelph region.

Special thanks to the Board of Directors who donate their time and energy everyday, without question, without

hesitation. Your dedication and support is what helps us move forward to care for those who need our

support.

Page 11

2016—2017 Year-at-a-Glance

MAY 2016

Disability Access

Toronto Convention Centre

Connections Resource Fair

Mississauga Convention Cen-

tre

55+ Info Fair

Garden City Brampton

JUNE

Springfest Seniors Event

Brampton

Healthy Living Expo

Square One

Oakville Ribfest

Sheridan College

Epilepsy Ontario Retreat

JULY

Sunny Days Camp

Mississauga

Mississauga Ribfest

Celebration Square

Mississauga Multicultural

Festival

Mississauga

AUGUST

Sunny Days Camp & BBQ

Mississauga

Joseph Brand Davy Festival

Hamilton

Brantford Ribfest

Brantford Shuttlecock Park

Port Credit Buskerfest

Mississauga

Mosaic Festival

Celebration Square

SEPTEMBER

Family & Youth Retreat 2016

Ancaster

OCTOBER

EHPH AGM

Head Office—Mississauga

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront

Marathon

Toronto

Entrepreneurs of Port Credit

10 Restaurant—Mississauga

NOVEMBER

Gift Wrap Supervisor

Training

EHPH Office

Gift Wrap Training

Shoppers World Brampton

STWM Awards Night

Toronto

DECEMBER

Gift Wrap

Shoppers World Brampton

Gift Wrap

Conestoga Mall

Camp 2016 Christmas Party

Mississauga

MAC Cranberry Gift Wrap

JANUARY 2017

Winter General Business

Meeting—MSA Charitable

Donation Award 2017

Sheridan Hotel—Hamilton

FEBRUARY

Government and Community

Services Fair

Cloverdale Mall

Etobicoke

Epilepsy Action Day

Queens Park

MARCH

Epilepsy Awareness Month

10 Restaurant

Boston Pizza YEP Event

Laundromat Wrap for

Epilepsy

Purple Day Challenge

Debate League Mississauga

UTM Campus

March Break Camp

Mississauga

Purple Gala

Credit Valley Golf & C.C.

Sobey’s BBQ

Kitchener-Waterloo-Wellington

Zehr’s 1st Awareness Month

Provincial campaign

APRIL

Fletcher’s Meadow Student

Volunteer Fair

Brampton

Mississauga Health , Wellness

and Safety

Mississauga Civic Centre

The 18th Annual Chicken

Wing Competition

Kitchener

Camp 2016 Reunion

Mississauga

Dravet Day

Sick Kids Hospital

Upcoming Projected 2017—2018 Year-at-a-Glance

MAY 2017

Disability Access

Toronto Convention Centre

Caregivers Resource Fair

Burlington Royal Botanical

Gardens

ESCO—KW GUELPH Office

Move

Kitchener

JUNE

Oakville Ribfest

Sheridan College

Jays Care Foundation Game

Day for Youth Empowerment

Rogers Centre

ESCO/MFC Golf Tournament

Dundas

Epilepsy Ontario Boat Cruise

Lake Ontario

RBC Golf Tournament

Niagara Falls

JULY

Sunny Days Camp

Mississauga

ESCO—HPH Office Move

Mississauga

AUGUST

Sunny Days Camp & BBQ

Mississauga

Brantford Ribfest

Brantford Shuttlecock Park

Port Credit Buskerfest

Mississauga

Mosaic Festival

Celebration Square

SEPTEMBER

Family & Youth Retreat 2017

Brantford

ESCO AGM

Brantford

ESCO—KW-Guelph

Grand Opening

Epilepsy Ontario Retreat

OCTOBER

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront

Marathon

Toronto

ESCO-HPH

Grand Opening

Boston Pizza Fundraiser

Mississauga

NOVEMBER

Gift Wrap Supervisor

Training

ESCO Office

Gift Wrap Training

Shoppers World Brampton

STWM Awards Night

Toronto

DECEMBER

Gift Wrap

Shoppers World Brampton

Gift Wrap

Conestoga Mall

Camp 2017 Christmas Party

Mississauga

MAC Cranberry Gift Wrap

JANUARY 2018 FEBRUARY

Government and Community

Services Fair

Cloverdale Mall

Etobicoke

Epilepsy Action Day

Queens Park

MARCH

Epilepsy Awareness Month

Client Event

Purple Day Awareness

Challenge

Purple Day Awareness

ESCO

March Break Camp

Mississauga

Purple Gala

Credit Valley Golf & C.C.

Sobey’s BBQ

K-W Guelph

Zehr’s 2nd Awareness Month

Provincial campaign

APRIL

Fletcher’s Meadow Student

Volunteer Fair

Brampton

Mississauga Health , Wellness

and Safety

Mississauga Civic Centre

The 19th Annual Chicken

Wing Competition

K-W Guelph

Camp 2017 Reunion

Mississauga

Page 12

Page 13

Corporations, Grants & Foundations

Page 14

Sponsors, Partners & Supporters

HALTON PEEL HAMILTON

2155 Dunwin Drive, Unit 5

Mississauga, ON L5L 4M1

905-450-1900

Hamilton: 289-639-8393

Halton: 289-627-1855

Brantford: 226-227-2193

K-W GUELPH

351-B Louisa Street

Kitchener, ON N2H 5N1

519-745-2112

Code of Ethics

Epilepsy South Central Ontario recognizes that the region is vast and rich in diversity. EpilepsySCO strives to

ensure all programs and services are accessible to all.

We help to eliminate barriers within the community we serve, and uphold a high standard of positive race

relations and attitude within the association at all times.

Dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with seizure disorders.

Charitable Registration Number: 80288 6218 RR0001

Special thanks to...

Ontario Trillium Foundation

Region of Peel

Care-Alive: The Caroline Cunningham Foundation

UCB

Eisai

The May Court Club of Oakville

Hamilton Health Sciences: Hamilton General Hospital

...for their continued support throughout 2016-2017.