Annual Report

2010–2011
Annual Report

BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
2010-2011
_________________
Wendy Elliott
Bob Gilbert
Richard Grunfeld, Chair
Tannis Ho
Connie Kehler
Karen Loch
Elaine Pelletier
Dianne McCoy
REPRESENTATIVES
University of Winnipeg
Mavis Reimer
Change is something naturally occurring throughout the life cycle process. Aurora
staff work diligently and intelligently helping others and their families cope with,
embrace and ultimately accept change of both the wanted and unwanted kinds.
As an educational and training organization at the University of Winnipeg, Aurora
has been undergoing its’ own profound changes.
This year we helped usher Marilyn Boyd, former Executive Director and staff
member for so many years into her ‘retirement’ years enabling her to pursue other
meaningful endeavours. She left her highly valued imprint for us and John Smyth
our new ED, to use and continue the work we do so well.
John has already begun to immerse himself within the Aurora culture and
institution with his knowledgeable background, experience and overall high level
of competence. The staff and community members who utilize our services will
no doubt continue to benefit.
The Board was also involved with the hiring of Mary Warmbrod as the Director of
the Marriage & Family Therapy program. With all the years of her teaching and
other involvement with Aurora, she adds stability during these times of change but
also her considerable academic knowledge well suits her to continue the work of
leading and developing the academic program that is also an integral part of
Aurora.
The Board held a fundraising concert featuring Brent Parkin. We raised money for
the Benevolence Fund, enabling people who might otherwise not be able to do
so, to access therapy services.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, we wish much continuing success for all of
our staff, students and community members.
Student
Representatives
Petra Kaufmann
Leah Ross
________________
Directors are elected by
members, provide public
accountability, and
assure program quality.
2010-2011
Resident: Shannon Daniels Intern: Jackie Walker
Cover photo by Mary Warmbrod – Jackie Walker at AAMFT Annual Conference Atlanta, GA September 2010
June 2011 – Page 2

ADMINISTRATION
Marilyn Boyd, M.Ed., Executive Director (retired January 2011)
Peggy DeGagne, Office Assistant
Wajiha Liaqat, Office Assistant
John R. Smyth, M.S.W., Executive Director (effective January 2011)
Mary Warmbrod, Ph.D., Training Program Director
Alys-Lynne West, Director of Administration
THERAPISTS
Eric Bailey, M.A.
Deb Bomek, B.S.W.
Marilyn Boyd, M.Ed.
Linda Cantelon, MMFT
Linda Churchill, M.Div. G
Shannon Daniels, MMFT
Marg Derksen, B.Ed.
Mira Djakov, B.A.
Roxanna Duguay, B.S.W.
Katie East, B.A.
Roberta Fast, B.A.
Jasmin Finch, B.Sc.
Rosa Maria
Garcia de Gonzalez, MMFT
Leslie Hackett, B.A.
Jody Harris, B.A. G
Stewart Hubbard, B.S.W.
Marie Hunter, B.A.(Hons.)
Sun Jin (Mona) Hwang, B.A. G
Fiona Innes-Smith, B.Ed.
Mark Johnson-Russell, B.S.W.
Petra Kaufmann, M.D.
Brian Klowak, B.A.
Carmel Krause, B.A.
Michelle Kreutzer, B.A.
Sharon Krysko, B.A.
Sofia Lisogorsky, B.Ed.Psych
Angela Livingston, R.P.N.
Holly Lowe, B.A. G
Kevin MacDonald, M.A.
Nelba Márquez-Greene, LMFT
Sherri McConnell, M.A.
Danna McDonald, B.A. G
Vaska Miteva-Karamanova, B.A.
Anita Nowak, M.S.W.
Sarah Picken, B.A.
Randy Rehbein, MMFT
Karin Rensfeld, B.A.
Leah Ross, B.A. (Hons.)
Africah Rukundo, B. Sc.
Denise Sargeant, B.Sc.PT G
Gail Shaver, B.Ed. G
Corinne Stevens, B.A. G
Aneta Stojneva Cicovska, B.A.
Jayne Van der Zaag, M.A.
Jodie Voth, B.A. (Adv)
Jackie Walker, B. FNAC
Mary Warmbrod, Ph.D.
John Weier, B.Th.
Audrey Wiebe, B.A .
G = will graduate October 2011
FACULTY AND
SUPERVISORS
Miriam Baron, MMFT
Mary-Jo Bolton, MMFT
Linda Cantelon, MMFT
Vicki Enns, MMFT
Linda Gibson, M.S.W.
Roberta Graham, MMFT
Carl Heaman-Warne MMFT
Kathleen Kiernan, M.Sc.
Diana McMillan, Ph.D.
Veroniek Marshall, MMFT
Nelba Márquez-Greene, LMFT
Cheryl Matthews, MMFT
Susan Maxwell, M.S.W.
Randy Rehbein, MMFT
Neal Rose, D.H.L.
Tara Sheppard, MMFT
Ron Sigurdson, MMFT
John R. Smyth, M.S.W.
Sandy Sydor, MMFT
Stewart Wakeman, M.D.
Mary Warmbrod, Ph.D.
Libby Yager, M.S.W.
Lori Yusishen, MMFT
June 2011 – Page 3

Since 1998-99, the financial records of Aurora have been included in The University of Winnipeg
financial audit.
OPERATING BUDGET
3/31/10
Closing
10-11
Budget
3/31/11
Closing
Revenue (See Note)
General Revenues $356,378 $343,441 $354,966
Investment Income $750 $1750 $750
Total Revenue $357,128 $345,191 $355,716
Expenses
Salaries and Benefits $295,173 $301,535 $290,706
Special Contracts $22,245 $27,000 $26,540
Administration $41,975 $26,814 $35,365
Capital Assets $688 $3,335 $4,590
Total Expenses $360,081 $358,684 $357,200
Excess (Deficit) ($2,953) ($13,493) ($1,485)
BENEVOLENCE FUND
3/31/09 3/31/10 3/31/11
Allocated Funds $9,923 $10,868 $9,706
Additions $5,648 $1,881 0
Disbursements $4,703 $3,243 $3,629
Balance $10,868 $9,506 $6,078
INVESTMENTS
3/31/10
3/31/11
Withdrawals
Closing
Closing
Bursary Fund $79,306 0 $88,087
Operating $152,736 0 $166,760
Totals $232,042 $254,847
AFTC investments are lodged with
Assante Financial Management Ltd.
YEAR END BALANCES
3/31/09 3/31/10 3/31/11
Cosing Closing Closing
Benevolence Fund $10,868 $ 9,506 $6,078
Investments $180,091 $232,042 $254,487
Year End Total $190,959 $241,548 $260,565
Note: Our primary sources of Revenue are:
United Way Grant of $ 149,141: Member and Religious Community Donations of
$6,264; Therapy Fees of $ 179,421; Manitoba Family Services and Housing
Community Support Program grant of $ 14,800; Government of Manitoba Special
Project Funding: Department of Justice, Victim Services for the Family Bereavement
Project $17,500 and for the Unresolved Loss Project $10,000; Department of
Immigration and Labour for the Therapy Program for Immigrant and Refugee
Families $219,697.
We are most grateful to all who contribute to covering the cost of our therapy services.
June 2011 – Page 4

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR__________________JOHN R. SMYTH
As a family ages and matures it is not unusual for
some members to move away and for new people to
join so that the whole system is forced to adapt and
change. It seems this is a never ending process, and
like the sea, is almost always in motion. While
change is a healthy normal part of the life cycle and
in a Darwinian sense is survival, it does not make
change any easier. This truly is a time of change in
the Aurora family.
In this past year Tanya Elez, coordinator of our
Therapy Program for Immigrant and Refugee
Families, moved to BC to pursue a Ph.D. Dr. Mary
Warmbrod joined Aurora in a newly created position
as Training Program Director. Nelba Márquez-
Greene joined as a new staff person and Wajiha
Liaqat joined our Administrative staff.
After twenty-five years of service, Marilyn Boyd
retired as Executive Director and I was voted onto
the Aurora Island and given the privilege of joining
what I believe is one of the most unique training and
not for profit centres in all of Canada. Part of our
uniqueness has to do with the quality of our training
program and with the diversity of our staff, our clients
and our student population. Last year we provided
service in almost thirty different languages.
We are in the middle of a re-accreditation process
with the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage
and Family Therapy Education. Accreditation occurs
every six years and means we are always current in
the training and therapy that we provide.
The training program has consistently grown each
year with the number of students in our program
growing by one hundred and sixty percent since our
last re-accreditation process. This year has seen the
largest number of applicants in the history of the
program. Some of these applicants are from around
the world.
On the therapy side of Aurora the volume of work
produced continues to grow each year in what I think
is an exceptionally cost effective manner. The staff
and students are a very hard working and dedicated
group of people.
In the last four years there have been several new
programs created including the Therapy Program for
Immigrant and Refugees Families, the Family
Bereavement Program, and the Horses Helping
People Program. We are developing the Unresolved
Loss Project which targets family members of
missing persons. This project is being headed up by
our very capable resident Shannon Daniels.
With all these changes we have long ago outgrown
our physical space. On top of these challenges we
are in the process of renegotiating our relationship
with the University of Winnipeg.
We are in our thirty ninth year of providing service to
the community and therefore a mature organization
that has much to be very proud of and much to be
very excited about.
Thank you to all those that make Aurora such a
special place, including our staff, external therapists,
interpreters, sessional instructors, the students and
in particular the practicum students who provide a
large portion of our clinical hours, our Board of
Directors and the many funding partners that make
all of this possible. Special thanks to Catherine
Cooke from the Manitoba Department of Labour and
Immigration, Cynthia Drebot from the United Way,
Janelle Braun and Suzanne Gervais from the
Department of Justice, Victim Services and to Dr.
Sandra Kirby, Associate Vice-President (Academic)
and Dean of Graduate Studies, University of
Winnipeg.
I thank Marilyn Boyd for her incredible energy,
dedication, commitment and courage to lead and
support what has become the Aurora family and the
Aurora network of relationships that support our
organization.
Thank you to all who have been so welcoming and
have helped me transition to my new role. I look
forward to the challenges and excitement of the year
ahead.
May you walk in peace and safety.
June 2011 – Page 5

We wish to express our appreciation to the following donors who
contributed so generously to Aurora Family Therapy Centre between
January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010
RELIGIOUS
COMMUNITIES
Mennonite Church
Manitoba
United Church of Canada
MB & Northwestern ON
Conference
FOUNDATIONS AND
SPECIAL CONTRACTS
Behavioural Health
Foundation Inc.
Canadian Mental Health
Association
Government of Manitoba
Family Services &
Housing
Manitoba Health
Labour & Immigration
Justice – Victim Services
United Way of Winnipeg
The RCMP Foundation
The Thomas Sill
Foundation Inc.
The Winnipeg Foundation
MEMBERS
Donor
(Up to $59)
Bolton, Mary-Jo
Bomek, Deb
Boyd, Patricia
Daniels, Shannon
DeGagne, Peggy 6
Djakov, Mira
Elez, Tanya
Gibson, Linda
Grace, Joyce
Hryniuk, Martha 6
Lockhart, Jennifer
Martinez, Sandra
McMillan, Eleanor & Cliff
Power, Patricia 6
Schnabl, Gail & Johann
Smillie, Tina 6
Tumak, Donna 1
Van der Zaag, Jayne
Friend
($60 to $109)
Burns Cone, Susan 1
Gurney, Carolyn 6
Kiernan, Kate
Randy Rehbein Counselling
Frenz, Mike 6
McArton, Clare 6
Shaw, Louise
Patron
($110 - $499)
Chartrand, Robert 6
Faurschou, Brian
Hastings, Ken 1
Hay, Helen
Hayward, Darlene 6
Johnston, Terri 6
Langille, Katharine 6, 1
Markham, Inga 3
Scott Consulting Services 3
Warmbrod, Dr. Mary 6
Benefactor
($500.00 and more)
Boyd, Marilyn 6
West, Alys-Lynne & Steve
CODES
1. All Charities Campaign
Province of Manitoba
2. Benevolence Fund
3. Bursary Fund
4. City of Winnipeg
Employee Campaign
5. In Memorium
6. United Way Winnipeg,
Give To and Through
7. Therapy Program for
Immigrant & Refugee Families
June 2011 – Page 6

HORSES HELPING PEOPLE ____ Linda Cantelon & Carl Heaman-Warne
developing the connections with caregivers
necessary for healing. Research has shown
that such youth respond well to ranch-like
settings and that youth who are difficult to reach
for most caregivers, develop deep connections
with animals, which carries over to the
caregivers connected to those animals.
Meet our new therapists Roo, Clyde and Dale.
The fourth one, Dubblin is currently holding out
for better benefits (grain and scotch mints were
his latest demands) and so seldom allows us to
catch him for therapy time. Bud and Weiser,
the yearlings, sometime pinch hit in his
absence.
We have been fortunate to change facilities this
fall to a warmer, enclosed arena which has
allowed us to offer therapy all year round. With
the help of the Thomas Sill Foundation Grant,
we were able to buy a used saddle and some
natural horsemanship equipment.
The Behavioural Health Foundation and
Knowles Centre have both referred at-risk youth
for group work where they have been
experiencing opportunities for growth and
learning. There is nothing like a 1800 pound
Clydesdale to teach you about personal space
and leadership skills. The youth learn that
clear, firm and kind leadership helps the horse
settle and feel safe knowing that they can
depend on the youth to teach them what the
boundaries are. These transferable skills help
the youth in their interactions with friends and
family in their daily lives. Many of these youth
have also experienced human relationships to
be traumatic already, and often are resistant to
Horses foster attachment in ways that bypass
the triggers of human-caused trauma, and help
bridge youth at risk to connections with the
therapists. With the safety of the responsive,
non-judgemental relationship the horses offer,
youth can rework traumatic life experiences
with the help of skilled therapists.
As our Winnipeg Foundation grant comes to a
close, we are seeking other funding
opportunities so that we can continue to offer
this form of therapy for those who cannot afford
to pay.
In 2010-2011 Aurora had 1072 active client
cases.
Our therapists worked with clients for a total
of 6803 hours.
A snapshot of data from our follow-up
interviews with clients…
89% of respondents rate our service
‘good to excellent’
93% would recommend Aurora to
friends or family
77% reported that they gained some
lasting skills that have helped deal
more effectively with problems or
concerns
June 2011 – Page 7

RETROSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS FROM OUR RETIRED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MARILYN BOYD
2010 was a year of uncertainty, upheaval
and transition for Aurora. In the prior nine
years since I took over from Dick Dearing
as Executive Director our staff team had
remained a stable hub around which both
the therapy and training components of
the program grew and changed. Then in
2010 Tanya Elez decided she wanted to
pursue her Ph.D., and I decided it was
time to retire. These decisions initiated a
period of destabilization and anxiety
throughout the system.
It’s ironic that therapists, the facilitators of
change in the lives of others, are often so
resistant to it in their own lives. Perhaps
this is because we need stability and
predictability as a ground to weather the
storms our clients invite us to walk
through with them. Or perhaps
uncertainty is by its nature a disturbing
bedfellow. We went through ‘not
knowing’ with Tanya: whether and where
she would get accepted, and anxiety for
ourselves over how to protect the wellbeing
of the Therapy Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Families when
deprived of her wise and knowledgeable
leadership. In planning my retirement
there was the uncertainty about whether
we could generate the financial resources
to replace me with two people, a Director
of the Marriage and Family Therapy
Masters Program and an Executive
Director for Aurora, an option desirable to
the point of necessity given the growth in
both the training and therapy programs in
the last decade. And then we faced the
complex task of how to design a process
to lead us to strong leadership for the
next decade.
The other drain on our team’s adaptive
energy was the length and complexity of
the transition process. We
underestimated the amount of work
involved and were not prepared for the
number of setbacks experienced. We did
not anticipate how much our staff team,
habituated to consensual decisionmaking,
would struggle when differences
of opinion appeared irreconcilable, and
how frayed nerves can trigger impatience
and resentment. And there was grieving
also as we prepared to lose almost onethird
of our core team.
Birthing is a good analogy: we entered
the process naïve, unprepared for the
pain, for complications and setbacks; it
took so long…and then the family’s life
was turned upside down in embracing
and adapting to the new additions. Dr.
Mary Warmbrod took over the role of
June 2011 – Page 8

Director of the MMFT program in August;
Nelba Márquez-Greene joined the therapy
team in September with a primary
commitment to the Therapy Program for
Immigrant and Refugee Families; and John
Smyth was chosen in November as the new
Executive Director of Aurora. Their coming
ushered in a new phase in the transition:
one of helping the new folks to feel welcome,
and offering information and support as they
address the myriad of tasks in our uniquely
complex system. I want to acknowledge in
particular Alys-Lynne West’s contribution to
this adaptation stage of the transition
process; in her position as Director of
Administration, she has played and is playing
a key role in guiding the new members of the
leadership team towards mastery of their
roles and responsibilities.
‘Not knowing’ remains, in particular around
where Aurora will be relocated in ongoing
‘musical chairs’ space reshuffle on campus.
But what we have learned in 2010 is that we
at Aurora, staff and students alike, are a
resilient lot, and that we can survive
uncertainty and change however much we
hate them. People have reached out to
support one another when the chips were
down; despite frustration, the basic loyalty to
Aurora/MMFT has remained solid. We have
a way to go yet, but we have a renewed core
staff team with the resources needed to be a
new stable hub re-creating the context of
safety necessary for current and future
clients and trainee therapists to risk the
vulnerability necessary to grow and thrive.
I miss you all, but I am confident that I have
left my beloved Aurora in good hands.
Marilyn, surrounded by her family, as Aurora honours her retirement on April 9, 2011.
June 2011 – Page 9

FROM THE TRAINING PROGRAM DIRECTOR_________Mary Warmbrod
As I write, the sun has appeared in a nearly
cloudless sky and we can look forward to
summer while also reflecting on the past
academic year for the Master of Marriage and
Family Therapy Program, my first as Director.
We truly get by with a little help from our
friends, colleagues, and students which is
especially what I have done. All of you have
my thanks for your knowledge, support,
reminders and patient understanding through
my ongoing learning. Fortunately, the
foundation of the program is well enough built
to handle my newness in the position.
The commitment to and interest in the
Program continued this past year. Our
instructors and supervisors have overseen the
learning in courses and in the practice of
family therapy. We offered two sections of two
courses in response to demand. Supervision
of over thirty trainee therapists occurred at
various locations. At Aurora Family Therapy
Centre we are grateful for supervisors Linda
Cantelon, Vicki Enns, Kate Kiernan, Veroniek
Marshall, Nelba Márquez-Greene, Randy
Rehbein, Ron Sigurdson, John Smyth and
myself. The space at Aurora is being used to
its maximum.
Thankfully, trainee therapists were also
supervised at Interlake Regional Health
Authority (IRHA), Klinic Community Health
Centre, New Directions for Children, Youth
and Families, and Family Centre. Linda
Gibson has given us her last year of service
as the supervisor at IRHA with locations in
Selkirk and Stonewall where trainee therapists
can see clients from north of Winnipeg. She
deserves our deep appreciation for her
involvement in guiding trainee therapists and
driving the snowy roads. Mary-Jo Bolton
supervised at Klinic, Cheryl Matthews at New
Directions, and Sandy Sydor at Family Centre.
Their involvement allows trainee therapists a
wider range of clients and permits us to have
more trainee therapists.
We currently have thirty-seven Master’s
students, sixty-one in the Certificate stage,
twenty-two as Occasional students and
twenty-three as Special students. We are
proud of our October graduates, who have all
secured jobs, and our Certificate recipients.
We had over 80 completed applications to be
in the program and selected twenty-one
Certificate students and twenty-three Special
students.
At the University of Winnipeg one of the new
features gradually implemented this year was
the computerized system for registration,
faculty identification, room booking, grade
submission, invoicing and student records. I
keep saying that it will be wonderful when
finally understood and we are all educated in
it, including the students. In the meantime it
has brought uncertainty but not yet speed to
tasks previously accomplished by known
procedures. What would a university be
without new learning, even if not in the areas
we expected?
As an accredited program of the Commission
on Accreditation for Marriage and Family
Therapy Education (COAMFTE) we have to
submit a Self Study to them every six years.
Our Self Study was due and submitted this
spring. In it I described the program and how it
meets the standards set by the COAMFTE. I
know that we have a superb and demanding
program but had to explain it for COAMFTE to
confirm that also. Despite the large amount of
work involved, I consider it a very valuable
review that we can use to begin exploring
possibilities for changes in the program.
Those of us involved with the MMFT program
are privileged to be able to help in the
development of family therapists who commit
to offer services to persons facing challenges
who want to make changes for more fulfilling
lives within a community. Each of us
contributes to the program in various ways,
valuable and unique. In combining our talents
for improving lives, we become an example of
the best that connection in families, groups
and societies brings. Thanks to us all and to
those who support us.
June 2011 – Page 10

MINORITY FELLOWSHIP AWARD & SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT
Tansi (Hello!) Kakithou Ki wachimitinow
wow! (I shake your hands and
acknowledge you all!)
My name is Jacqueline Walker and I am
a Cree woman from the Nisichawayasihk
Cree Nation (Nelson House) in Manitoba,
Canada. I am currently a student at the
University of Winnipeg seeking a
Masters Degree in Marriage and Family
Therapy. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in
First Nations and Aboriginal Counseling
from Brandon University. When I am not
attending classes I maintain a full-time
position as a Counselor at the
Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Family &
Community Wellness Centre in Nelson
House, Manitoba.
After graduating with a degree from
Brandon University, I returned to my
home community of Nelson House to
work and to reconnect with the people
and my extended family. I began
working with the Elders of my community
to understand our traditional Cree
knowledge systems. I then used that
knowledge to develop programs that
incorporated the Elders’ teachings to
meet the various needs of the families in
our community. Through my work with
the Elders and families in my home
community, I developed a positive sense
of my own cultural identity. The gift of
knowledge that I received from the
Elders and my new-found confidence in
my own identity have allowed me to
integrate the Cree World view into my
work as a family counselor.
Upon graduation from the Masters
program, I plan to continue counseling
families using both traditional Cree and
Western approaches to therapy. My
hope is to develop a Family Healing
Lodge in Northern Manitoba.
My success is not possible without the
love and support of my family. I have a
wonderful and supportive husband and I
am mother to four beautiful children and
a grandmother to two grandchildren.
I am both humbled and honoured to have
been chosen to receive a minority
fellowship award and scholarship from
the American Association of Marriage
and Family Therapy (AAMFT). The
award was presented at the 2010
AAMFT Annual Conference held in
Atlanta, Georgia from September 23 to
26, 2010 and I was thrilled to have been
able to be there to receive it.
Jackie Walker with husband Felix celebrate
the award at the 2010 AAMFT Annual
Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
June 2011 - Page 11

THERAPY PROGRAM FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE FAMILIES
John R. Smyth, Program Director
Our staff and students gain experience and
exposure working with the immigrant and
refugee population. By the time our students
graduate with their Masters Degree in Marriage
and Family Therapy they can continue to
provide therapy services for future newcomers
in their places of employment. In this way we
have truly become involved in capacity building.
I feel very privileged to be part of such a
successful and important program.
The fiscal year of 2010-2011 was the third full
year of service since we received approval and
funding from Manitoba Labour and Immigration.
The program continued to strengthen and grow
though provision of therapy services to
immigrant and refugee clients and we continue
to foster our interagency and community ties.
Between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011 our
therapists provided a total of 1185.75 therapy
hours, which is 52.5 hours more than in the
previous fiscal year. We closed this year with
109 active cases. In the last four fiscal years the
numbers of cases were 60, 88, 123 and 109,
with the overall number of therapy hours
increasing each year.
Direct service was provided in: English, French,
Cantonese, German, Korean, Swahili, Mandarin,
Polish, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Russian
and Spanish. Interpreter assisted therapy was
provided in Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Dinka, Farsi,
Italian, Kinya-rwanda, Kirundi, Lingala, Maban,
Mandarin, Oromo, Somali, Tagalog, Tigrinya
and Vietnamese. We continually look for other
language resources in order to meet the needs
of new clients.
This fiscal year was also characterized by
collaboration with other service providers and
agencies. We continued to be involved with
NOWAN, MIRSSA, Mount Carmel Clinic, the
Needs Centre and Welcome Place.
We have experienced a number of structural
and organization changes that have impacted
the program. Tanya Elez, the former coordinator
and the person who developed this program,
resigned her position in August 2010 to pursue
her Ph.D. Marilyn Boyd, our previous Executive
Director, assumed Tanya’s administrative duties
while Aurora was searching for a new Executive
Director. A second part time Community
Therapist, Nelba Márquez-Greene joined us in
September 2010. I started as the new
Executive Director of Aurora Family Therapy
Centre and Program Director of the Therapy
Program for Immigrant and Refugee Families in
January 2011. Thankfully through all of these
changes Rosa Maria Garcia de Gonzalez has
remained a stable, consistent staff person within
the program. We have been able to maintain
telephone contact with the former program
coordinator and consult around the ongoing
functioning of the program.
We recorded a record number of therapy hours
this past year. In the spring of 2010 we had a
huge surge in intakes that lasted for several
months. This demand for therapy far surpassed
our available resources. It took the cooperation
of a lot of people and financial aid from the
department of Labour and Immigration to stay
within our budget.
The number of requests for service, and interest
in our program and services continues to
demonstrate increased community awareness
and reputation of our program.
June 2011 – Page 12

COMPANION OF THE CENTRE AWARD
Since 1988 we have been offering an annual award to a person within the Aurora context who has made an
outstanding contribution to the common good. The current award criteria specify an individual who has contributed
both to the Aurora Family Therapy Centre Community and to the wider community of which Aurora is a part. Over
the years, award recipients have been chosen from the Marriage and Family Therapy field internationally and
locally, from The University community, and from the cadre of past board members and current professional
colleagues. Marilyn Boyd is this year’s recipient.
As former Executive Director Dick Dearing said at Marilyn‘s retirement celebration, she embodies our history having
lived through and been instrumental in the internal changes and expansions symbolized externally by the name
changes of the clinic for the accredited Masters degree: from Interfaith Pastoral Institute (IPI) to Interfaith Marriage
and Family Institute (Interfaith) to Aurora Family Therapy Centre (Aurora). As the first female full time professional
at Interfaith, her early role, embraced with feisty enthusiasm, was to bring a woman’s perspective to the leadership
team. Over the years she has worn many hats: therapist, teacher, supervisor, Director of Therapy, Director of
Training, and finally Executive Director.
As Executive Director, Marilyn preferred a collaborative leadership style. She enjoyed supporting others in pursuing
their passions, resulting in major program innovations, for example the Equine Therapy Program created by Linda
Cantelon, and the Therapy Program for Immigrant and Refugee Families, the fulfilment of Tanya Elez’s dream.
These and other new programs and contracts helped Aurora keep pace in the past decade with the steadily growing
Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy program (MMFT).
Marilyn’s passion was Aurora/MMFT. She used her head, but lead with her heart. Her door was always open to
colleagues and students. She did what was necessary to get the job done: “Are you still here?” was heard often
from therapists arriving to meet with evening clients. She venerated the dreams of Interfaith/Aurora’s founders and
the hard work of Dick Dearing and others who shepherded tiny IPI into thriving Interfaith and she worked tirelessly
with the staff and the board to build wisely on that foundation. That said, what she’d really like to be remembered
for, and what she remembers with greatest fondness, is the shared laughter and tears, the caring and commitment
to right relationship at every level of the Aurora family, and in particular the love and loyalty binding together the
core staff at the heart of it all.
Marilyn chose a ‘helping profession’ following a family tradition, particularly the modeling of her father. She has
three grown children, nine grandchildren and renews her sanity at her cottage at Lester Beach.
HOMICIDE BEREAVEMENT PROJECT
Mary-Jo Bolton, MMFT
Project Coordinator/Therapist
Jackie Walker, MMFT Candidate
Intern/Therapist
The death of someone precious is not to be resolved but to be expressed, storied, experienced, and gently over
time in small doses, find its way to meaning.
- Anonymous
This quote beautifully encapsulates the therapeutic goal and hopeful message of the homicide bereavement project.
This winter Aurora conducted its 5 th homicide bereavement therapy group with individuals who had lost siblings, and
parents who had lost children. The group spent 12 sessions together exploring with each other how they have been
impacted by the violent death of their loved one and telling the story of their lives. The group sessions are structured
to be a gentle weaving of the pain of the loss along with commemorative sessions in which each member of the
group presents the life of their loved one.
Each week the group members showed courage and strength as they faced the many layers of loss, fear, anger,
and many uncertainties about their futures without their loved ones. Art therapy, mindfulness, narrative storytelling
and traditional teachings were used in group to help the participants to begin to find comfort, meaning and healing.
Throughout the year the Family Bereavement Project also provided individual, couple and family therapy to loved
ones of homicide victims.
The funding for this project has been provided by the Victim Services Unit of the Department of Justice.
June 2011 – Page 13

BUILD-A-BURSARY PROJECT REPORT _________ Marilyn Boyd
I’m delighted to report that our last push to take the Build-a-Bursary Project ‘over the top’
has been totally successful! The following bursary funds, through recent donations
which Aurora has double-matched, have reached the goal of $10,000 which allows them
to be endowed:
Jack Boyd Memorial Bursary
Marilyn Boyd Bursary
Richard Dearing Bursary
Gloria Erickson Bursary
Maria Gomori Bursary
MMFT Alumni Bursary
Rabbi Neal Rose Bursary
Virginia Satir Bursary
Other bursaries that reached endowment level prior to this last campaign include the
Elizabeth (Betty) Tresoor Memorial Award, the Dr. Lawrence Whytehead Memorial
Bursary, and the John Millar Bursary. Over time, with the ongoing generosity of you and
others supportive of the Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy Program and the good
money management of the University of Winnipeg Foundation, we would expect that
these funds would yield at least $5000 a year in bursary award money for MMFT
students who need help with their course fees.
Thank you so much to all of you who have been a part of this project: to those who have
founded bursaries in honour of someone you admire or wish to memorialize, to those of
you who have made donations, and to those of you who have offered moral support and
spread the news of this initiative to others. It is an amazing accomplishment to create a
legacy of help and support that will continue in perpetuity! It is a manifestation of the
heart and spirit of MMFT/Aurora that when financial times were tough the community
dug deep to co-create this security net for future students.
For now the new funds must wait a year to accumulate interest which then becomes the
basis for subsequent years’ awards. In the meantime, and in perpetuity, donations are
always welcome; $10,000 is the minimum level for a bursary fund to begin paying its
earnings to students, but there is no maximum: the more money in the fund, the more
money available for awards.
Again, thanks to all, and congratulations to us as a community of caring for bringing this
foundational stage of the Build-A-Bursary Project to a successful conclusion.
2010-2011 bursary recipients were: Bolaji Akinyele-Akanbi, Miroslava Djakov,
Roberta Fast, Sun Jin (Mona) Hwang, Fiona Innes-Smith, Mark Johnson-Russell, Diana
Justl, Carmel Krause, Jody Lambert, Jocelyn Lantin, Martha McDowell, Vaska Miteva-
Karamanova, Karen Palaniuk, Sarah Picken, Cori Reimer, Alfricah Rukundo, Corinne
Stevens, Aneta Stojneva Cicovska, Karen Walters.
R.J. Con Memorial Bursary: Sun Jin (Mona) Hwang
Dorothy Martin Bursary: Jackie Walker
Ernest Wiebe Memorial Bursary: Sun Jin (Mona) Hwang
University of Winnipeg Foundation Endowments
Dr. John Millar Bursary: John Weier
Dr. Lawrence Whytehead Bursary: Cori Reimer
June 2011 – Page 14

Marilyn Boyd Bursary
Susan Claire Johnson
Leah Margaret Ross
Marilyn Boyd
Marion Grace Kinnear
Elizabeth Rowbotham
Joyce Kruger
Candace Nawrot
Maureen Hofstedt
Jennifer Lockhart
Elaine Huberdeau
Dr. Rabbi Neal Rose
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
The United Church of Canada
Foundation
Jack Boyd Memorial Bursary
Marilyn Boyd
William Boyd Kruger
Province of Manitoba (MSBI)
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Dr. Richard Dearing Bursary
Rosalind E. Dearing
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Gloria Erickson Memorial Bursary
Diane Keating
Leah Margaret Ross
Katherine Ruth East
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Maria Gomori Bursary
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Dr. John Millar Bursary
Marilyn Boyd
Tatjana Elez
Province of Manitoba (MSBI)
Dr. Rabbi Neal Rose Bursary
Susan Claire Johnson
Tanis Barbara Jury
Ronald Sigurdson
Alice Oswald
James Draper
Gordon Steindel
Jennifer L. Johnson
Veroniek Marshall
Dr. Rabbi Neal Rose
John Smyth
Province of Manitoba (MSBI)
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Virginia Satir Memorial Bursary
Susan Claire Johnson
Dr. Mary Warmbrod
Province of Manitoba (MSBI)
Aurora Family Therapy Centre
Elizabeth (Betty) Tresoor Memorial
Award
*None
Dr. Lawrence Whytehead Memorial
Bursary
*None
June 2011 – Page 15

Located at The University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg MB
R3B 2E9
Tel 204.786.9251 Fax 204.772.2547
Email aurora@uwinnipeg.ca
http://aurora.uwinnipeg.ca
A United Way Member Agency