December 2007
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Launching ActNow BC’s Healthy Living Initiative
This Act Now BC joint AMSSA / ELSA Net project is funded through the BC Ministry of Attorney General. The focus Seniors at the launch learned about healthy cooking and the role of food in developing community. They also participated in yoga, Vietnamese line dancing, and circle dance to promote personal fitness. The Honourable Gordon Hogg, Minister of State for ActNow BC; and numerous other special guests joined the seniors in the food and dance.
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2008 Multifaith Calendar - A Perfect Gift for the Holiday Season!
With captivating graphics and an easy to follow layout, the Multifaith Calendar is a valued addition to any office or home... and makes the perfect gift for the upcoming holidays! With 7500 already sold, AMSSA's Multifaith Calendars are moving fast, so don't wait any longer to purchase your own! To order a calendar today, call 604-718-2784 or toll free 1-888-355-5560. You can also log on The AMSSA Store at www.amssastore.org |
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‘Promoting Healthy Living’ – 2008 Multicultural Health Fair
HURRY......the deadline for submitting Exhibitor Applications is Friday, December 28th! If you have misplaced the Exhibitor Guidelines & Application Form, they can be downloaded at http://www.amssa.org/healthfair2008/exhibitors.htm. To learn more about the Health Fair, see: http://www.amssa.org/healthfair2008/index.htm |
AMSSA Delivers Settlement Worker Training for the First Time
AMSSA learned from ELSA Net’s immigrant ESL service staff training activities over the last few years, and collaborated with ELSA Net to deliver joint training in the Interior and on Vancouver Island. AMSSA and our settlement service member agencies benefited greatly from collaboration, funding and expertise from the Legal Services Society, who organized and funded groups of lawyers to present to staff about a wide range of immigration related legal topics. AMSSA also enlisted immigrant employment expertise from our Vernon and Nanaimo member agencies to provide basic information about providing “Labour Market Focussed” services to newcomers.
Partnering with SPARC on Integration Research
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Safe Harbour - Gaining Momentum and RecognitionAMSSA’s Safe Harbour project is indeed gaining momentum and recognition. Safe Harbour’s message has now reached 21 communities throughout BC and over 300 storefront businesses and agencies which act as dedicated Safe Harbour locations, committed to celebrating diversity and providing equitable treatment to all.
Safe Harbour has been receiving an increasing amount of press recently, including numerous community-based newspapers and local business association newsletters. AMSSA is now in process of recruiting celebrity spokespeople and media support |
New Youth Ambassador Communities in BC! Youth Ambassador is AMSSA’s Canadian Heritage funded youth component for our Safe Harbour program. AMSSA proudly welcomes four new Youth Ambassador Community Organizers: Prince Rupert Anti-Racism Committee, Collingwood Neighbourhood House in Vancouver, DIVERSEcity in Surrey/Delta, and Community Connections Society of Southeast BC in Cranbrook. This brings our network to a total of thirteen communities. On December 3rd, AMSSA hosted a full day Train-the-Trainer Workshop for our Community Organizers and their community and school partners. Participants have told us it was an excellent opportunity for everyone to share stories, voice ideas, and feel supported by AMSSA and by one another. Our Community Organizers and their Youth Ambassador teams are working together to build more welcoming environments for diversity. Keep your eye out for our Youth Ambassador website in the New Year!
AMSSA Staff Changes
AMSSA welcomes back Ada Chan. AMSSA members may remember Ada for her work on Safe Harbour, IICC information and networking, and multiculturalism policy research. She will be coming on board in January 2008 as the Multicultural Health Fair Volunteer Coordinator working with the Fair Coordinator Vivianne de Pass.
Farewell Sue .... Office Holiday Closure Dates
AMSSA staff would like to extend warm and happy holiday greetings to all! Please note that our office is closed from Monday December 24, 2007 – Wednesday January 2, 2008, and opens again on Thursday, January 3, 2008.
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More than 100 seniors from South Asian, Middle Eastern, Eastern and Western European, and Latin American backgrounds joined AMSSA and numerous special guests at the Britannia Community Centre on November 30 to celebrate the Vancouver launch of ActNow BC’s Healthy Living Initiative Immigrant and Multicultural Engagement Project.
of the project is on improving access to health information and promoting healthy living for multicultural communities. The project has developed posters, web site information, an ESL curriculum, and other resources designed to meet the needs of immigrant seniors throughout the province. 
And what did participating seniors have to say about the AMSSA event? Here’s a sample: “The activities programmed were excellent and interactive that made us all move from our chairs” (South Asian Senior)
The Multifaith Calendar is the leading source of complete and accurate dates, times, and descriptions for over 140 religious and cultural occasions. Information from fourteen World Religions and faith groups is collected annually. The dates and explanations of each religious Holy Day, Festival, Fasting period or Celebration are concisely outlined in this attractive and easy to follow publication. 
Plans for the AMSSA’s 2008 Multicultural Health Fair are well underway! AMSSA has already secured strong provincial funding, and a growing number of event sponsors for this popular health promotion event. To be hosted at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver on February 23, it will include the broad range of exhibitors and activities that have made our previous Health Fairs so well-attended by immigrants.
Our funders include the BC Ministry of Attorney General, the City of Vancouver Cultural Affairs office. The 2010 Legacies Now LEAP BC program and Vancouver Coastal Health will both host special health promotion activities. Our sponsors now include Safeway Pharmacy, TD Canada, Shaw Sabey, RJ 1200 AM radio, the Indo-Canadian Times, Apna Roots, the Georgia Straight, and the Ming Pao daily news. 
AMSSA is pleased to see the positive evaluations by staff of our immigrant serving member agencies following our first Frontline Settlement Service Training delivered in all BC regions in October and November. The BC Settlement and Multiculturalism Division funded AMSSA to deliver the training for the first time, and AMSSA worked very closely with ELSA Net and the Legal Services Society to design and deliver the training. 
AMSSA is very pleased about the developing relationship we have with the Social Planning and Research Council to conduct research for the benefit of immigrants. With United Way of the Lower Mainland funding, SPARC is now leading a partnership with AMSSA to learn more about the service continuum between “settlement” and “integration”. The three-year project, focussed on Vancouver and Burnaby, will look into which immigrant groups run into gaps between settlement services and their ability to access “mainstream” services. Already eight AMSSA settlement service members have volunteered to assist with survey distribution to their clients early in 2008. 
With generous support from the Ministry of Attorney General, AMSSA is continuing to support the marketing, recruitment, training delivery, and follow-up activities of our Community Organizers. AMSSA invited our partners to Vancouver for a 1-day Train-the-Trainer Workshop in Vancouver on November 2nd, sponsored by SPARC BC. The Workshop was also a great networking opportunity since many of the Community Organizers met one another for the first time. Participants practiced facilitating the curriculum in small groups and provided feedback on strategies for recruitment, which led to a Media Kit orientation by Ethos Strategy Group. 
“Show people the way to the help they need. Some people need to learn that it is safe enough to let down their guard.” - Youth Ambassador participant 
Welcome Back Ada!
