FOUR community leaders — including Gary Thandi, founder and executive director, Moving Forward Family Services, Surrey — and one community organization have been honoured for their work supporting crime prevention and community safety initiatives addressing gender-based violence, advocacy and restorative justice.
The 26th annual Community Safety and Crime Prevention Awards were held in Vancouver on November 3 to celebrate the outstanding contributions the award winners have had on their communities.
“The people receiving awards today exemplify our collective power to effect positive change in the lives of those impacted by crime and violence,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “I congratulate each award recipient on their unwavering dedication and commitment to support and empower victims and survivors. My heartfelt thanks for everything they do to keep communities in B.C. safe.”
These awards acknowledge individuals, non-profit organizations, and justice and community partners for their work advancing crime prevention, restorative justice, support for at-risk youth and other initiatives that help enhance safety and well-being in communities across British Columbia.
Others who received the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Awards were Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director, Battered Women’s Support Services, Vancouver;  Evelyn Zellerer, founder and director, Peace of the Circle, Vancouver; Debbie Klaric, program manager, police-based victim services, North Island Crisis and Counselling Centre Society, Port Hardy; and North Okanagan Youth and Family Services Society, child and family counsellors, Vernon.
“These award recipients work as our partners in crime prevention, victim services and community safety, making a difference in the lives of British Columbians every single day,” said Kelli Paddon, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity. “I am so grateful for the work they do. It is their compassion, leadership and advocacy for victims and survivors across this province that lends a voice to those who need it most.”
Thandi received the “Safe Communities Award” that recognizes exemplary leadership through developing innovative projects and key activities or initiatives to promote safe communities.
The award was established in honour and memory of Constable Kenneth M. Lemckert who played a key role in the Vancouver Police Department’s community policing program. Ken recognized the importance of partnerships and the contributions we can make towards solving local problems.
The citation for Thandi reads:
GARY Thandi is the Founder, Executive Director, and Clinical Supervisor of Moving Forward Family Services, a collaborative non-profit organization that provides low barrier counselling and support services to residents of B.C. and across Canada. The organization’s vision of ‘a world without sorrow’ feeds their mandate to provide counselling to anyone who needs it.
With over 20 years in the field, Gary had the privilege to connect with, learn from, and work alongside many that he considered mentors. In time he too was able to take on a mentorship role, supervising students on practicums for social work or counselling psychology. He saw this as an opportunity to pay it forward and support new practitioners in the field. What he didn’t anticipate was that as a mentor, he learned a great deal from the fresh-out-of-school interns who brought new knowledge to the work and gave him a much needed recharge with their energy and support for heavy caseloads.
For years Gary struggled with having to turn away people who were struggling with mental health and/or substance use or putting them on long waitlists. Eventually this distress, coupled with the value he saw in what supervised students could do to address these concerns, led him to start Moving Forward Family Services; an agency that has a wide open mandate that can support as many diverse communities as possible, complementing and easing the pressures off existing services.
Eight years later and Moving Forward Family Services has become one of the busiest non-profit counselling services in Canada, with about 150 supervised interns across the country, 20 clinical supervisors to support them, and 150 alumni who valued the agency’s mission and offer sliding scale support for anyone who cannot afford traditional costs for therapy. Gary strongly believes that accessible counselling and support for our diverse populations is key to safer, stronger communities.
