Thank you - Marliss Taylor

After three decades of dedicated service, Marliss Taylor, Director of Health Services, is retiring - leaving behind a legacy that has shaped the way we provide health care and services to those we serve.

Marliss’s work was transformational. She understood that health care and services needed to be delivered in a unique and understanding way when supporting individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. Early in her career she championed harm reduction at a time when it was far from widely accepted. Her leadership helped shape Streetworks into one of the first programs in Canada to distribute clean needles to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Needle exchange, a once controversial public health initiative, is now recognized as essential public health infrastructure - a testament to Marliss’s courage and vision. And in 2005, Marliss was the first to initiate the use of community-based naloxone in Canada, which has undoubtedly saved countless lives.

Marliss fiercely championed peer-based outreach, hiring people with lived experience as central voices in program delivery. She understood that trust, compassion, and cultural safety are not ancillary to health care, but essential to it. Lived experience is and will continue to be an important and valued asset in our staff group here at Boyle Street, a feature of our organization that exists largely due to Marliss's tenacious advocacy.

More than a public health leader, Marliss has always been deeply connected to the community. She believed in meeting people where they were at, not just physically but with respect, dignity, and care. Her approach has always been centred on people: people who use substances, people experiencing homelessness, people navigating impossible systems. She worked tirelessly to ensure those we served are at the centre of every organizational decision, big or small.

Marliss has been a beloved mentor, colleague, and collaborator. She has opened doors for countless emerging leaders, many of whom cite her willingness to take a chance on them and guidance along the way as foundational to their careers. Her laugh, her fierce intelligence, and her ability to hold space for both heartbreak and hope will be deeply missed in the day-to-day rhythm of our work.

As she steps into retirement, we celebrate a career marked by deep impact, ethical approach and overwhelming integrity. Though her departure is the end of an era, the systems she built and the lives she touched will continue to ripple outwards serving as a lasting testament to the power of her compassionate leadership.

Congratulations, Marliss. Thank you for your thirty years of leadership, stubborn hope, and transformative care. Boyle Street Community Services is a better, more compassionate place because of you. We wish you nothing but joy, rest, and well- earned peace in this next chapter. You will always be a part of our community’s heartbeat.