About Thrive Group

Our Story

Thrive Group was established in 2013 to provide a more consolidated and cost effective approach to the provision of infrastructure services for St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke and AbleLiving Support Services. The governing Boards of each organization understood the need to radically change how back-office supports were structured in order to ensure that, with increasing demands and overstretched budgets, as much of the funding received through their Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), project-based funding and donor contributions as possible could be channeled to where it was most needed - quality front-line care for their clients and residents. By consolidating each organization’s Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance and Facilities Management functions and recruiting one Chief Executive Officer, overall administrative costs were reduced without sacrificing the strength that an informed and professional back-office infrastructure could offer. Currently Thrive Group is responsible for the operation of four member organizations:

  • St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke
  • AbleLiving Services
  • Capability Support Services
  • Idlewyld Manor

Thrive Group’s Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Team are ultimately responsible for all aspects of the member organizations' operations. In addition to operating member organizations, Thrive Group also delivers back office support to a variety of organizations. These include:

  • CAMA Woodlands
  • Alzheimer Society Hamilton, Halton
  • Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia
  • Halton Independent Living
  • Driver Check
  • Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario
  • Shalom Village
  • Nucleus Independent Living
  • Central Canadian District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance
  • The Village at St. Elizabeth Mills
  • Thrive Counselling Services Halton
  • Wayside House of Hamilton

Our Philosophy

We believe living well is an art not a science. The Thrive Group makes living life well, on your own terms, a reality. With an integrated service delivery model, Thrive provides a healthy living experience that meets service, safety and care requirements in environments designed for people with unique needs. Thrive Group’s mission, vision and values are overarching and guide all member organizations.

Our Mission

Thrive Group provides a spectrum of integrated services to support and care for individuals to live as independently as possible. By bringing together like-minded organizations we will:

  • Develop and deliver quality services that are responsive and innovative
  • Enhance collaborative approaches to service provision
  • Inform government directives and influence health care system transformation, and
  • Create efficiencies and reduce duplication

Our Vision

Building a community of quality and responsive services in a highly integrated and transformed health care system.

Our Values

TEAMWORK
is essential for our success. We believe we are more effective together than individually. We require our collective knowledge and skills to accomplish great things. Our employees and volunteers are expected to work in collaboration with each other, our clients, residents and family members. By building strong and effective partnerships with our community and funders we believe we can build more accessible and cohesive systems of care for all.
HONESTY
and transparency are fundamental in building relationships with our clients and residents, partners, funders, families and community. We are trustworthy and ethical in all our dealings and hold our employees and volunteers to the highest standards of conduct. We value open, honest and direct communication and encourage regular feedback from our employees and volunteers, clients, residents and stakeholders.
RESPECT
is required in all our interactions. We respect the privacy and dignity of our clients and residents and will provide them with support and services that allow them to live as safely and independently as possible. We value and celebrate diversity in our clients, residents and colleagues. We respect the environments within which we work and will strive to maintain them to the highest standards possible.
INNOVATION
and progressive approaches to care are essential in meeting the current and growing needs of our clients and residents. We are committed to continuous learning and development, and encourage our employees and volunteers to strive to be the best that they can be. We are committed to learning new approaches and open to researching and implementing best and most promising practices to ensure we remain a leader in the field of human service provision.
VERSATILITY
ensures our ability to adapt and change to meet growing demands with limited resources. We are committed to building services and systems that are responsive, timely and cost efficient. We will remain solution-focused and will provide our clients, residents and stakeholders with demonstrated value without compromising quality of service. We will build a culture of responsibility and accountability across all organizational systems.
EXCELLENCE
is a fundamental requirement in all we do. We are committed to building a leading-edge organization that attracts and retains a highly qualified and engaged workforce. Through the expertise and commitment of our employees we will subsequently develop high quality programs, services and systems that are held in the highest regard across the wider health and social service sector.

Strategic Plan

1. Foster a culture of quality service excellence for our residents, clients, caregivers, employees and other stakeholders

Objectives:

  • Develop a framework to solicit input from clients, residents, caregivers and employees; analyze emerging needs; address deficiencies; and increase quality
  • Continue initiatives that will foster employee engagement, promote desired cultural norms and establish Thrive Group as an employer of choice
  • Fully implement the succession strategy to ensure adequate leadership capacity and seamless leadership transitions
  • Improve communication strategies to increase engagement and information sharing across all Thrive Group organizations and within the community
  • Continue to integrate and enhance quality measures to support,
    monitor and evaluate service outcomes and organizational performance
  • Refine performance management strategies and ensure they are fully embedded at all levels

2. Build capacity through strategic partnerships and new initiatives that will allow Thrive Group to have impact and influence for those we serve

Objectives:

  • Foster partnerships that will support funder priorities, expand current services, increase continuum of care options and offer innovative solutions to enhance the client, resident and caregiver experience
  • Develop a growth and capacity plan to ensure human and physical resources meet changing demands
  • Explore the creation of a health care regional learning and resource centre
  • Develop a communication and marketing plan that will inform and further engage clients, employees, caregivers, funders and stakeholders

3. Create a diversified funding base to ensure financial sustainability

Objectives:

  • Continue to search for an appropriate social enterprise and enhance fundraising activities that will contribute to innovative service solutions and provide unrestricted revenue
  • Increase financial resources by becoming the go-to provider for organizational infrastructure, strategic leadership and risk planning solutions for the non-profit sector
  • Introduce green initiatives that will reduce our carbon footprint and provide savings

Annual Report

2019 - 2020 Annual Report

We are pleased to share with you Thrive Group’s 2019 - 2020 Annual Community Report. After a busy and successful year of learning and growth, we are excited to share some of what we have been working on to help reduce pressure on the local health care system. We continue to look for ways to provide solutions that transform our local health care system by ensuring clients and residents receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place. We have remained true to our mission and vision by taking a lead role in health care transformation and having a strong influence on system reform.

Our incredible staff is what makes it possible to influence change and provide the best possible care for our clients and residents.

Download 2019 - 2020 Annual Report
Cover of the Thrive Group Annual Report Booklet

Our Senior Leadership Team

Portrait of Steve Sherrer

Steve Sherrer

Chief Executive Officer

Portrait of Brenda Patterson

Brenda Patterson

Chief Financial Officer

Portrait of Sandra Watt

Sandra Watt

Chief People Officer

Portrait of Vickie Baird

Vickie Baird

VP, Business Strategy

Portrait of Lucy Sheehan

Lucy Sheehan

Executive Director, Community Services

Portrait of Renee Guder

Renee Guder

Chief of Organizational Development

Portrait of Paul Russell

Paul Russell

Senior Director, Technology & Environmental Services

Portrait of Jennifer Banks

Jennifer Lavigne

Administrator, St. Peter’s Residence

Portrait of Bahar Karimi

Bahar Karimi

Executive Director, LTC Services
Chair of Research, Thrive Group

Portrait of Janine Mills

Janine Mills

Quality and Privacy Officer

Portrait of Shari-Lee Srirgley

Shari-Lee Srigley

Executive Director of Fundraising and Development

Our Board of Directors

Thrive Group is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors who are committed to ensuring the highest level of quality care is provided.

Portrait of Bob Luckhart

Bob Luckhart

Portrait of Terry Anderson

Sebastien Skrobos

Portrait of Sue Rivers

Tim Dietrich

Portrait of Pam Mermieersch

Elizabeth Beader

Portrait of Ted Capstick

Ted Capstick

Portrait of Dr. Brenda Vrkljan

Dr. Brenda Vrkljan

Portrait of Guy Dixon

Guy Dixon

Portrait of Elizabeth Manganelli-State

Elizabeth Manganelli-Staite

Portrait of Pam Mermieersch

Pam Vermeersch