January is a month that invites both clarity and courage – clarity about what matters most, and courage to follow that clarity even when it means changing course. 

I want to share how I lead and how we make decisions at Ve’ahavta. Why? Because, whether you give time, money, or both, I want you to have confidence and trust not only in what we do, but in how we do it.  

How we make decisions at Ve’ahavta 
When need is everywhere, the temptation is to do everything. But our years of experience have taught us that real impact can only come from consistent, disciplined focus. 

Decision-making at Ve’ahavta is guided by two things: 

1) On-the-ground truth (qualitative): direct feedback from the people we serve, our frontline staff teams, our volunteers, and our partners, who tell us what is and isn’t working; 

2) Data-driven truth (quantitative): metrics that we collect and analyze about service demand, client outcomes, and the consistency, cost-effectiveness, and impact of our operations. 

When these two truths point in the same direction, we move. When they diverge, we slow down, listen, and adjust. 

Our approach to growth 
We take a methodical, data-informed and outcomes-driven approach to growth.  

Since 2018, we have grown dramatically – both in the number of people we serve  through our programs and services, and in the positive outcomes of those programs and services. At the same time, we have kept expenses relatively flat. 

What I hope you see in these numbers is that we are dedicated to growing responsibly and efficiently. We are laser-focused on using limited resources to help as many people as possible to achieve real dignity, real stability, and real outcomes.  

We pivot! 
In our current strategic plan, we set the ambitious goal to deepen our impact here in the Greater Toronto Area and at the same time to commence our national expansion with Ottawa, driven by the belief that we’ve got a unique solution to poverty and everyone, everywhere deserves access to it.

In keeping with our commitment to responsible growth, we identified virtual programming as a low-risk way to start our service in Ottawa. We figured we could learn, test demand, and build a foothold before making a significant on-the-ground investment there.  

Here is what we learned: You can’t dip a virtual toe into another city and expect to have impact. We discovered that if we want to make real impact there, we will need to make a meaningful investment in time, relationships, infrastructure, and create a real local presence. 

When we compared what it would take to do that in Ottawa to the impact we can deliver right now in the GTA, we came to the conclusion that we can change more lives, more efficiently, by focusing here for now.  

So we’re pressing pause on expanding services to Ottawa and focusing our energy on the GTA, where the need is urgent, the infrastructure is strong, and we can deliver the most efficient impact. 

2026 is our 30th year 
This January auspiciously marks the start of Ve’ahavta’s 30th anniversary year. Thirty years of mobilizing our community around one simple principle: love isn’t a warm and squishy sentiment, but rather a moral imperative and a call to action.  

If you were with us in the early days, I hope you look at today’s “grown up” version of Ve’ahavta and feel deeply proud that you supported us through the “terrible twos,” and the scrappy experiments that enabled us to grow and learn and get to where we are now. 

If you’re newer to the Ve’ahavta family, I hope that in this year of celebration you will feel inspired, as we are, by the people who came before us, who built this organization with soul, meaning and purpose. This is the legacy we strive to preserve and strengthen in everything we do.  

But more than anything, my hope is that you will be energized and excited by who we are today and where we’re going – because I sure am.  

We are still the organization with that incredible outreach van that you have known and loved for years. We still believe that saving a life comes before everything and that if someone can’t survive the night, there can be no tomorrow to rebuild.  

But today, we are also an organization forging a different approach to poverty. We do not see people as their worst day, their hardest season, or their past. We see the human being in front of us as whole and capable, created with inherent worth and limitless potential. The core belief that shapes everything we do is that we believe in people.  

People can overcome hardship. People can build emotional resiliency and practical skills. People can move from surviving to stabilizing, from instability to employment, from being stuck to becoming self-sufficient. People can rediscover pride, direction, and purpose. 

That is why we pair practical supports with deep, person-centered care. We meet immediate needs without judgment, and we invest in the long game with conviction. We are not only helping people get through the next night. We are helping people step into their next chapter. 

Thank you for being part of this community by volunteering, donating, caring, and staying connected. If you have feedback about what we do, how we communicate, or how we can improve, please reply to this email. We read it. We learn from it. And it shapes our decisions. 

With gratitude,

Cari Kozierok,
CEO, Ve’ahavta

P.S. If you’re looking for one concrete way to start 2026 with action, here are three:

• Volunteer
• Become a monthly donor (steady support = steady care)
• Walk with us at Coldest Night of the Year