Annual General Meeting – Mark Your Calendars!

It’s that time of year again for our Annual General Meeting. This year, it will take place on Friday, September 19th, 2008 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Vancouver Museum (Joyce Walley Learning Center) 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver.

There will be a Performance by the Puente Theatre Group as well as Special Presentations of the AMSSA Riasat Ali Khan Diversity Award and the AMSSA Service Recognition Awards.

Please RSVP to AMSSA at 604-718-2778 or amssa@amssa.org by September 4th.

Refreshments will be served.

Hot Off the Press… the 2009 Multifaith Calendars!

The anticipation is over, the 2009 Multifaith calendars have arrived! To order yours today, call 604-718-2780 or toll free 1-888-355-5560. You can also log online to the AMSSA Store at www.amssastore.org.

Upcoming Cultures West Magazine on Temporary Foreign Workers

AMSSA is excited about the development of our upcoming edition of Cultures West Magazine on the topic of Temporary Foreign Workers.  Our country and province are inviting an increasing number of migrants to come to Canada on a temporary basis to fill a wide variety of labour market needs, and AMSSA is collecting information about this new trend from a wide variety of sources. 

The Editorial Committee for this edition is made up of Victor Porter from MOSAIC, Deanna Okun-Nachoff from West Coast Domestic Workers Association, and Seth Klein from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, all of whom are developing articles and making connections.  With the help of these knowledgeable individuals, AMSSA is already confirming articles from BC Government Ministries, the Philippines Consul Office, unions, and academics.  AMSSA's member agencies are also providing important "frontline" perspectives, with articles being developed by Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, Multicultural Helping House, South Okanagan Immigrant Centre, and Settlement Orientation Services about what they are seeing as service providers. 

 Make sure you receive a copy of this edition of Cultures West, which will be released September 19th, just in time for the Annual General Meeting! You may view all editions of Cultures West online at: http://www.amssa.org/cultures%20west/index.htm or call 604-718-2780/ 1-888-355-5560 to request a hard copy.

Don’t Miss Out! AMSSA’s Fifth Annual Multicultural Health Fair is Saturday, February 21st, 2009!

Thanks to our funders and sponsors, the fourth annual Multicultural Health Fair this past February was an unprecedented success with close to 2,000 people turning out for the event to have fun and to learn about healthy living.

The 2009 Multicultural Health Fair will focus on promoting healthy living with an emphasis on interactive activities. Incorporated in the full day’s events will be a grand opening ceremony; guest speakers; interactive health tests and displays in the eight major languages of immigrants and refugees to the Lower Mainland; healthy multicultural cooking demonstrations; live entertainment; fitness demonstrations; children’s activities corner; raffles; and prizes.

Safe Harbour – A Business Case for Diversity

Our Safe Harbour network of more than 400 small and medium sized businesses, non-profit agencies, libraries, community policing centres, government offices, and other storefronts continues to grow and gain recognition from media, business, and potential sponsors in over 31 BC communities. Safe Harbour was recently profiled on Channel M to celebrate Canadian Multiculturalism Day. Community Organizers are riding a wave of change, creating welcoming communities for people of all backgrounds with the support of BC’s Ministry of Attorney General's Welcoming Communities strategy.

There is an excellent business case for diversity, which Safe Harbours understand well. They understand that an inclusive business or organization builds better relationships:

• Safe Harbour allows businesses and agencies to better understand and serve diverse customers and clients, increasing customer satisfaction and expanding market share.

• Safe Harbour training prepares staff to adapt to changing customer profiles and appeal to ethical consumers.
• Safe Harbour creates, and can attract and retain, more diverse employees and increase employee commitment.
• Understanding diversity can reduce interpersonal conflict and enhance teamwork.

Please visit www.safeharbour.ca for ways to connect your workplace to a local Community Organizer and take advantage of this free professional development opportunity. If you would like to see a local business or agency take part in the program, please direct them to our website!

Safe Harbour Youth Ambassador Diversity Program-DVD and Resources Available

“I know I wouldn't be where I am without all the people who helped me.  I want kids to learn that helping is the least we can all do.” – Youth Ambassador

YA Team / Cowichan Intercultural Society

The Safe Harbour Youth Ambassador Diversity program, funded by Canadian Heritage, teaches youth and children ways of respecting one another’s differences and developing respect for diversity in their classrooms and neighbourhoods. Under the guidance of a local community-based agency, Youth Ambassadors are trained to become children’s workshop facilitators and "ambassadors for diversity" based on a Train-the-Trainer Curriculum. Following their training workshops, Youth Ambassadors have said “I felt prepared because I learnt all of the necessary things to facilitate the workshop. I also felt prepared because we practiced the activities in the training session” and “I was ready to use what I learned to raise awareness among youth."        

AMSSA has worked closely with thirteen member agencies in BC this past year to deliver workshops in schools and community settings. Despite wrapping up our contract with Canadian Heritage in June, AMSSA will continue supporting existing and new communities in promoting Youth Ambassador. A newly developed DVD, a printed curriculum and resource package, t-shirts, and other resources will be available from AMSSA upon request.

Temporary Foreign Workers Outreach Project

AMSSA is very pleased about progress for the Temporary Foreign Workers Employment Standards Outreach Project.  Through funding to AMSSA from the BC Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services, twenty-six IICC member agencies are being supported to do outreach to and deliver training workshops for temporary foreign workers and their employers on the Employment Standards Act and related immigration topics.  One staff member from each agency came to Vancouver on June 17 and 18 for a training session provided by the Ministry’s Employment Standards Branch staff on understanding and delivering the information.  AMSSA has received broad praise from IICC agencies about the high quality and responsiveness of the training.  AMSSA is now liaising with IICC agencies to assist them in making key connections and organizing orientation sessions.  AMSSA is also working with participating immigrant serving agencies to collect anecdotal information through this project about the profiles and situations of temporary foreign workers in BC communities, so the BC settlement sector can better understand and make the case for expanded information and assistance services for migrants coming to work in our province as “visitors”.

 AMSSA-UBC Research Project

UBC student practicum researcher Easter Tocol is making excellent progress collecting information from AMSSA’s immigrant serving membership for the IICC Inventory and Analysis – BC Community Services for Immigrants research project.  The project, intended to inform senior policy makers about potential new social service models for newcomers, will determine the full range of services developed by community settlement agencies for immigrants and refugees that they have developed through their various funding and partner relationships outside of the BC Settlement and Adaptation Program. Easter will develop both a policy briefing and directory with a listing of all current settlement, adaptation and integration service models of the IICC network.  Easter has already collected information from over two-thirds of IICC member agencies, and is working with the remaining IICC agencies to facilitate the process.  Through August and early September, under the guidance of a representative IICC advisory committee and her UBC Sociology academic supervisor, Easter will develop the project reports which will be distributed to key policy makers and service funders, and will be available for the information of AMSSA members.  Metropolis BC brought this research opportunity to AMSSA, through the MITACS program, which funds collaboration between research students and community organizations. 

AMSSA Staff Changes

Goodbye Inna and Patrick!

Our wonderful Office Coordinator, Inna Tomashuk, will be leaving AMSSA because of her marriage to Klym Bolechowsky and relocation to Alberta. She has been an invaluable member of the staff here at AMSSA and will be sorely missed. We wish her all the best in her marriage and her new home in Alberta!

Patrick Lok, the Youth Ambassador Coordinator, has finished his contract at AMSSA. We thank him for all of his hard work and hope to see him at AMSSA again some day soon!

Welcome Barbara, Sarena, Jocelyn, and Suzanne!

Barbara Yearwood joined AMSSA in June as the Project Coordinator for the WelcomeBC and Temporary Foreign Workers Projects.

Sarena Talbot joined AMSSA for the summer as the Multicultural Health Fair Assistant. A COOP student, Sarena is studying International Studies and Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University.

Jocelyn Coburn is AMSSA's new Office Coordinator. An English Major, Jocelyn is a recent graduate of Simon Fraser University.

Suzanne Dinelle will be taking over the coordination and distribution of the Multifaith Calendars. We are very excited that she will now be officially part of the AMSSA family!

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