July 2009

Provincial Safe Harbour Program

The Safe Harbour Provincial program continues to do work in 24 regions with 25 Community Organizers. Some of the newer locations joining the Safe Harbour BC community include: Burnaby City Hall and the Richmond Fire Rescue Department.

Safe Harbour has launched a number of new initiatives. The Respect for All: Pass It On campaign will invite individuals to become Friends of Safe Harbour. Friends of Safe Harbour may be trained participants, newcomers, colleagues, friends, students, and volunteers who commit to promoting Safe Harbour in their community. These individuals are asked to purchase and wear a blue Respect for All: Pass It On silicone wristband at work, in the community, and on Respect for All Day, the first Tuesday of the month. For more information on how to get involved and become a Friend of Safe Harbour, please visit www.safeharbour.ca.

The Safe Harbour Program is pleased announce SHARE YOUR STORY with Safe Harbour. Join us in raising awareness for issues of diversity, respect and the impact it can have beyond your own community. Share Your Story with us. Let us know what you’ve observed, experienced, or how you've been touched by living in a diverse community. Blank postcards may be picked up at the AMSSA office and various Safe Harbour locations. Share Your Story with Safe Harbour on the back of these postcards and return it to the AMSSA office. A selection of postcards will be posted on the Safe Harbour blog on the first Tuesday of each month, Respect for All Day. www.safeharbourblog.wordpress.com. Additional postcard templates can be downloaded from here as well.

For more information about the SHARE YOUR STORY initiative, please visit www.safeharbourblog.wordpress.com.

AMSSA continues to provide our Lead Organizations with resource and communications support to coordinate the program across Canada. The Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers in Alberta, the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council in Manitoba, and the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association-MISA in Nova Scotia are expanding the program in at least seven of their rural and urban communities. We have truly gone coast to coast with our message of Respect for All.

Since signing up to be a Safe Harbour location, The Central Alberta AIDS Network Society experienced a situation in which their Safe Harbour knowledge proved to be effective: an individual came into the Turning Point building in distress. CAANS staff members, working within the parameters of the Safe Harbour program, were able to subsequently take control of the situation and ensure all of the necessary precautions were taken to ensure his safety. CAANS expressed that the Safe Harbour program is an exciting initiative which promotes respect and equitable treatment for all, contributing to the betterment of all participating communities and agencies.

Informing Government about Newcomer Labour Market Needs

In April AMSSA's immigrant serving member agencies met in each BC region with staff from the Ministries of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development and of Housing and Social Development, to profile frontline community perspectives about the labour market dynamics and employment service needs of all newcomer groups. AMSSA's goal in organizing the discussions was to, for the first time, bring together all parts of BC government responsible for designing and funding labour market services to learn from and share information with frontline immigrant service experts.

AMSSA produced a report from the four meetings (available here), which has now been presented directly to all relevant government staff including the Employment and Labour Market Services (ELMS) Senior Management Team. As BC continues the process of developing new "Made in BC" models for labour market services, AMSSA is engaging with key ministries and branches to continue communicating newcomer needs and ensure a better, more holistic sent of services is available to meet those needs in all BC communities.

Diversity Health Fairs

Throughout the Spring, five of AMSSA's member agencies were very busy organizing Diversity Health Fairs in Kamloops (Kamloops Immigrant Services, April 19th), Nanaimo (Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society, May 9th), Vernon (Vernon & District Immigrant  Service Society, May 22nd), Abbotsford (Abbotsford Community Services, June 6th) and Victoria (Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, June 13). AMSSA  had a booth at each fair with Promoting Healthy Living and Diabetes Prevention interactive games and  multilingual resources.  Each of the 2009 fairs had as main theme the Promotion of Healthy Living and Diabetes Prevention among BC multi-ethnic communities.

All the fairs were very well attended  by a culturally diverse  group of participants who received  information in different languages about health  topics and services available in their local communities,in a free and safe environment.  Families with children and grandparents had  opportunities not only to learn about  healthy living topics  through interactive games but also could enjoy cooking demonstrations with food samples and recipes, live entertainment, children's and fitness activities.

AMSSA Research Connections E-Symposium

On June 10, AMSSA hosted its first ever research e-symposium at Vancouver’s SFU Harbour Centre to connect frontline service staff with researchers and their projects. The event featured three presentations and a question and answer period: Peter Liang, Communications Officer with Statistics Canada, reviewed Highlights from the Longitudinal Study of Immigrants to Canada; Daniel Hiebert, Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia, examined Immigrants and the Housing and Labour Markets of Vancouver; and Jennifer Jihye Chun, Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, provided an overview of the Living Wage Campaign. Over 250 participants joined the event, either in person or live over the Internet, from across British Columbia, including frontline service staff from immigrant serving agencies, SWIS school districts and the Government of BC. AMSSA would like to thank all presenters and participants for making this event such a success. A video recording of the event will soon be available for download on the AMSSA website.

AMSSA Supports Newcomer Children

AMSSA is pleased to announce a new initiative to build capacity in the area of early and middle childhood of newcomer children. AMSSA is being funded to lead a two-year advocacy campaign to improve the outcomes for immigrant and refugee children – their cultural transitions, their social integration, their schooling outcomes, and their physical and mental well-being. AMSSA gratefully acknowledges the support of the United Way of the Lower Mainland for this new program.

AGM Preparation

AMSSA staff are currently preparing for our 2009 Annual General Meeting to be held on September 25th from 4:00-6:00 at the Vancouver Museum in the Joyce Whally Learning Centre. AMSSA is pleased to announce our keynote speaker for this year will be filmmaker Monika Delmos, who will be showing clips from and discussing her new film Everybody's Children, about the experiences of two unaccompanied minor refugees in Canada.

Welcome Rishima and EJ

AMSSA is pleased to welcome two new members of our team. Rishima Bahadoorsingh will be working as the Newcomer Children's Advocate, developing and guiding this new initiative.

EJ Shu is a PHD student from UBC who will be working with AMSSA this summer on the development of our research dissemination website.