The Centretown Community Health Centre has hired a multicultural outreach worker to inform new immigrants about its services.
Yasmin Hebisha began working at the health centre six months ago and put in charge of proactively reaching out to the community.
“Many new immigrants do not know the services that are available to them, whether because of a language barrier or other reasons,” said Christina Marchant, manager of community health promotion at the CCHC.
“There were many new immigrants settling into the Centretown area,” says Marchant. “Yasmin has been able to encourage new immigrants to come out and join the community.”
Hebisha finds many new immigrants through referrals from family members or friends who come to the health centre.
She also works with tenant associations so she is able to visit apartment buildings, talk to the residents directly and set-up information booths in the lobby.
“Some of these new immigrants are very isolated and many don’t even go out other than for groceries,” says Hebisha. “Seniors are especially vulnerable.”
Hebisha urged for a program targeted at multicultural seniors. This summer, the Summer Fun for Multicultural Seniors pilot program included three drop-in sessions and an outing on a double-decker bus.
“On average we had 32 seniors coming to each drop-in, and over 100 calls wanting spots on the bus,” said Hebisha, who immigrated to Canada from Egypt six years ago.
Along with organizing new programs Hebisha oversees The Women of all Cultures program.
It runs eight week sessions twice a year; meeting on Mondays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Themes for the sessions include, nutrition and healthy living, children and safety, and take charge of your lifestyle.
“Part of the mandate for the CCHC was to help new immigrants join Canadian society," says Hebisha. "If we didn’t run programs like this we wouldn’t be fulfilling our mandate to our community.”