Annual Report 2010 - Resource Assistance for Youth

RaY says goodbye to two very important members of the RaY family…
Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer
that the flower withers, but the seed remains. ~ Kahlil Gibran
Pam Belair
Our beloved Office Administrator passed away on December 20th, 2010. Pam was often affectionately
referred to as RaY’s “Bean Counter” because beans were basically all she was counting when
she came to work in 2005. Pam administratively saw the agency through a merger, rebranding, and a
capital campaign. Pam was the glue that held together records, information, facts, contacts, contracts,
policies, people, and procedures in a highly coordinated fashion that was easily accessible for
the team and most specifically RaY’s Board of Directors and senior managers. Pam was our minute
taker, funder liaison, and bill payer. She was a solid trustworthy individual with high moral character;
she was reliable and thorough and possessed an incredible work ethic. Through her untimely
death, we discovered exactly how much we all depended on her. Pam was a kind and gentle soul,
quick to smile with an easy laugh. Party Pam was our event planner and each year she ensured that
each staff had a birthday card and a piece of cake. She was an important person to RaY and a dear
friend to all of us. She continues to be missed. A plaque in RaY’s elevator will be mounted in her
memory.
Lynn Thomson
Lynn passed away on January 25th, 2011. Lynn had battled diabetes since her diagnosis at 12 years
of age. Lynn began her career with RaY as a volunteer and soon began working part-time, then fulltime,
back to part-time, and as her health declined, she volunteered at RaY when she could until the
end of her life. Lynn was RaY’s first addiction worker. During her career at RaY, Lynn’s no nonsense
approach to recovery along with her vast experience of living on the street coupled with a decade
of sobriety made her a credible support, a kin to all, and well known as the “Angel of the Street”.
Lynn was proclaimed by Winnipeg Women magazine as one of Winnipeg’s Most Beautiful Women
and garnered nationwide attention for her work at RaY. The youth she supported and mentored held
a vigil for her in the parking lot of RaY during –30 C weather as the church bells chimed in the distance.
A quilt made by the youth along with a plaque will be mounted in the multipurpose room at
RaY where Lynn conducted meetings for those suffering with addiction issues.