Multicultural & Immigrant Services Association

of North Vancouver Island

Annual Report 2016 ̵ 2017

Celebrating 25 years!

MISA North Vancouver Island

Annual Report 2016 - 2017

Table of Contents

Mission, Vision, Values .................................... 1

Vital Statistics ................................................. 2

President’s Report to Members ........................ 3

Executive Director’s Report to Members ........... 4

Community Partners........................................ 5

Members and Funders ..................................... 6

Founders and Past Presidents .......................... 7

Settlement Services ........................................ 8

Quotes from our Program Participants .............. 9

Welcoming Communities Coalition .................... 9

Programs & Community Engagement ..............10

Financial Report .............................................11

MISA History .................................................13

Quotes from our Clients .................................15

Campbell River

A114-740 Robron Road,

Campbell River, BC V9W 6J7

250-830-0171

info@ImmigrantWelcome.ca

Comox Valley

407 A 5th Street,

Courtenay, BC V9N 1J7

250-338-6359

admin@ImmigrantWelcome.ca

North Island:

Call toll free 1-855-805-0171

Skype by appointment

www.ImmigrantWelcome.ca

Multicultural & Immigrant Services Association

of North Vancouver Island

Vision

A North Island region that embraces diversity and inclusivity while actively engaging with the vibrant cultures in the region, and where newcomers feel welcome, safe and respected.

Mission

The Multicultural and Immigrant Services Association of North Vancouver Island (MISA) assists local communities in attracting and retaining newcomers by providing education and

professional services to members of those communities while offering advocacy for vulnerable populations and settlement services, thereby fostering welcoming and inclusive communities.

Values Statement

MISA believes that:

All people have a right to be treated, and feel that they are treated, with respect, dignity,

and fairness

All people have a right to privacy, and to be treated and feel that they are treated with

confidentiality and respect to personal boundaries

All people have a right to be and feel safe in their communities, neighbourhoods, and

workplaces

All people have a right to self-determination and to build their capacities to be self-reliant

and independent

All individuals, community groups, organizations, and employers need to understand and

fully implement all related government statutes, regulations, and case law

All people have a right to be included, and to not be discriminated against for reasons of

gender, age, culture, race, language, religion, ability, social class, and sexual orientation

All organizations have a responsibility for continuing to learn and implement best practices

Commitments Statement

MISA is committed to implementing and being a model for these ethics statements in all of its

work, and, in addition, to being in its relations with customers, clients, funders, and stakeholders:

Transparent

Professional

Accountable

Page 1

MISA North Vancouver Island 2016-2017

Vital Statistics

Total population

of region served

128,000

40,301 km2

total area served

Page 2

Years serving the

North Island region 25

Countries of origin

represented by our

clients 96 Top Ten Countries of client origin

1. Philippines

2. Vietnam

3. China

4. Great Britain

5. U.S.A.

6. India

7. South Korea

8. Mexico

9. Germany

10. Syria

Page 3

MISA

Board of Directors

2016-2017

Layne Marshal, President

Lisa Blackburn, Vice President

Cathy Voth, Secretary/

Treasurer

Leanne Brunt, Director

Maria Kirley, Director

Lorraine Theron, Director

Cathy Reyno, Director

President’s Report to Members

As I look forward to 2017-18 for the Immigrant Welcome Centre, I also have to look back on the year just past. It was a busy time for the board, staff and volunteers at the IWC, a time when we saw a good set of accomplishments. You’ll read more about them elsewhere in the Annual Report, but I do want to highlight two of the major items.

The first was the relocation of the Comox Valley operations to a new centre in downtown Courtenay. Not only does the new site give us more working space, it gives our clients and visitors more parking space and easier access to Courtenay's amenities. It will make everyone’s time at the IWC much more enjoyable.

The second was the acquisition of the Language Instruction for Newcomer Canadians program. Adding language instruction as an integrated part of IWC’s settlement services will give our newcomer clients a leg up on one of the really important challenges of moving to a new country and community.

I also want to thank the Executive Director and members of the Board of Directors for their support and dedication to our cause. We’ve gone through some major transitions in the last year or two, and even the best transitions can present some challenges. Board members and our management team rose to all challenges.

And of course, I want to thank all of the dedicated staff and volunteers who serve as our public face. They ably serve and support our communities and make the IWC the excellent organization that it is.

Layne Marshal, President 2016-2017

Layne Marshal

President 2016-2017

Executive Director’s

Report to Members

First of all, I want to recognize that this year we celebrated our 25th anniversary! It has been quite a ride and as an organization we have experienced many changes, but one thing that has remained consistent is our focus on providing the best services we can to all of the newcomers we serve and in addition proactively supporting the development of our welcoming communities. Thank you to everyone who has supported the Multicultural and Immigrant Services Association of North Vancouver Island (MISA). This list includes our volunteers, our Board of Directors, our members, our community partners, our funders and our staff.

Our accomplishments over the past year have focused on creating strategic and progressive management systems that build the capacity for our organization to meet our overall mission. This new direction will undoubtedly enhance our collective ability for us to consistently achieve MISA’s mission into the future.

We have achieved this objective by changing our board model to true policy governance which requires a very strong strategic focus that measures effectiveness and accountability for our mission every month. In addition, we have also developed a comprehensive workplan for the entire year.

Operationally we have supported the Board and ultimately our clients by developing the necessary systems to ensure that we are meeting our mission despite the ongoing changes within the settlement sector which have been considerable.

We were awarded a 3 year contribution agreement for settlement services for the North Island region. In addition to this, we were also awarded the contract for delivering the Language Instruction for

MISA Staff

2016-2017

Jim Brennan,

Executive Director

Settlement Services

Thuy Sin, Manager

Rochelle Baker

Sarah Callander

Claudia Figueroa

Amy Gibson

Deborah Hall

Julie Kosolofski

Lori Koyanagi

Ann McLeod

Kim Nanuan

Ana Mena

Ai Guo Zhang

Welcoming Communities

Coalition Coordinator

Jorgina Little

Page 4

Jim Brennan

Executive Director 2016-2017

Page 5

Community Partners

Campbell River Aboriginal Visioning and Empowerment

Campbell River Community Arts Council

Campbell River Family Services

Campbell River Syrian Refugee Support Committee

Campbell River Women's Resource Centre

Comox Valley Family Services

Comox Valley Refugee Support Group

Comox Valley Transition Society

Creative Employment Access Society

Kwakiutl District Council

North Island College

North Island Employment Foundations Society

School District 71

School District 72

Service Canada - Courtenay

Success By Six, Comox Valley

Vancouver Island Regional Library, Campbell River

Vancouver Island Regional Library, Comox Valley

Volunteer Campbell River

Volunteer Comox Valley

Wachiay Friendship Centre

Newcomers (LINC) program. The management team was successful in putting together a convincing business plan for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) which saved this program for our communities. It is also worth noting that North Island College was instrumental in supporting the transition of the LINC program – thank you.

The last note in terms of our accomplishments over the past year is that we were nominated as “Not for Profit of the Year” at the annual Campbell River Chamber of Commerce Awards.

As we look forward into the next year and the foreseeable future, MISA is compelled to continue creating and developing the necessary strategic systems to achieve our mission within an ever-changing sector which requires us to continue to do more with less.

Jim Brennan, Executive Director

Members

Altrusa Club of Campbell River ● Philip Asplin ● Association Francophone de Campbell River ● Lisa Blackburn ● Monserrat Bourgoin ● Laurence Brown ● Monica Brown ● Denny Brunt ● Margot Brunt ● Leanne Brunt ● Wendy Burke ● Campbell River Chamber of Commerce ● Campbell River Literacy Association ● Comox Valley Family Services Association ● Anthony Divinagrach ● Si Duong & Suong Nguyen ● Helen & Cecil Henley ● Daisy Hennig ● Leonard Hiquebran ●John Howard Society of North Island ●Tracy Kidson ● Zenaida Lim ●Layne Marshal ● Dong Nguyen ● North Island Employment Foundation Society● Mitzi Ogasawara ● Opportunities Career Services ● Mila Penaflor ● Kim Pham ● Quyen Pham ● Jo-Ann & Doug Preston ● Khammy Quan ● Janet Richardson ● Rosalinda Schellenberg ● Peter Schwirtlich ● Wendy Shelley ● Brenda Tessman ● Victoria Tumbaga ● Vancouver Island North Women's Resource ● Brenda Wagman ● Barb Walker ● Gillian Winter ● Naomi Wolfe ● Ling Wong ● Barbara Wyatt ● Louise Young●

Funders

Immigration, Refugees and

Citizenship Canada

BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism

& Skills Training-Workforce

Development & Immigration

Division

Province of BC Gaming

Policy & Enforcement Branch

Employment & Social

Development Canada

North Island Employment

Foundations Society

Service Canada-New

Horizons for Seniors

Program

Province of BC Ministry of

International Trade

United Way Lower Mainland

& BCAA

Thank You!

Page 6

Page 7

Founding Members:

Naomi Marchand

Heather Downing

Susan Doby

Past Presidents

Maggie Whillans

Mark Grenier

Naomi Marchand

Colleen McClure

Caerol Pusifer-Seibel

Hardy Gill

Brian Lukyn

Marlene Knowles

Natalia Grundle

Diane McNeill

Helen Henley

Brenda Hanrahan

Frances Lake

Barbara Walker

Patricia Gagnon

Layne Marshal

Thank You!

MISA North Vancouver Island 2016-2017

Settlement Services

Page 8

Client Services:

Help with Forms &

Documents

Citizenship,

Immigration &

Refugee Protection

Support

Interpretation &

Translation

Employment

Services

Housing

Information

Health Care

Information

Addressing

Education Needs

Counselling Services

Child Care & Family

Concerns

Income Tax

Preparation

Access to Legal

Advocate &

Canadian Law

Human Rights

LINC

Clients from

Countries

of origin

96

Clients served 987

Employment Clients served

37

Hours of language interpretation 235

Services provided 2742

Page 9

Quotes from our

program participants

“I am very happy to coming

here because I meet new

friends. Thank you.”

“I was eligible to apply (for

citizenship) in 2011 but due to

all my busy-ness in my life, I set

it aside. Then I got in touch with

the Immigrant Welcome Centre

here and they helped me and

encouraged me.”

Welcoming Communities Coalition

The Coalition brings together local businesses, service providers, institutions, and individuals.

Members work together to enhance current services and to build welcoming and inclusive

communities for all individuals, regardless of age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, economic

status, spiritual belief, ethnicity, culture or country of origin.

Coalition Members: stay current on local issues, opportunities and best practices involving

inclusion and diversity; identify & prioritize community needs and gaps; share personal and

professional expertise, knowledge and experience; create innovative solutions, resulting in

positive change.

In 2016-2017 the Campbell River Coalition worked toward establishing a one-stop community

event calendar, which is now available at gocampbellriver.com. The Comox Valley Coalition

chose to develop a series of media related workshops aimed at local service organizations.

MISA North Vancouver Island 2016-2017

Programs & Community Engagement

2131 Volunteer hours

Page 10

Client Programs:

International

Seniors Group

International

Women’s Group

International Adult

Co-ed Soccer

International Family

Recreation Group

Conversation Group

Book Club

HIV/AIDS Workshop

Citizenship

Preparation Classes

Financial Literacy

Workshops

Languages

Spoken by Staff:

English

Spanish

Vietnamese

Tagalog

French

Mandarin

German

MISA North Vancouver Island 2016-2017

Welcoming Communities Coalition

Volunteers 65

Client Program Sessions

139

Coalition Members 50

Page 11

Page 12

The changes to wages and benefits are a direct result of the decrease in funding from our contracts. In addition, MISA did not fill one of their full time positions.

Page 13

•MISA is Incorporated

•Hosted the first annual Walk for

the Elimination of Racism

MISA North Vancouver Island History

1992 •Started the

English Conversation and Social Group for Immigrants 50 years and older

•Youth 4 Diversity started

•Safe Harbour program intro-duced to the community

•First International Dialogue on

Racism is hosted

•Youth 4 Diversity

received the Nesika Award

•Opening of the Comox Valley

office

1997

2002

2003 2007

2005 2009

2011

Page 13

MISA North Vancouver Island History

•MISA accepted the Welcoming Communities

Award on behalf of Campbell

River

•MISA awarded Not-for-Profit of

the Year by Campbell River

Chamber of Commerce

2012

•Funding transition to CIC

•MISA awarded the Riasat Ali Khan Diversity

Award by AMSSA

•MISA appoints New Executive

Director, Jim Brennan

•New staff position created for settlement in North Island

•Nominated for BC Multicultural-

ism Award

•20th Anniversary of the “Walk Away

From Racism

•MISA celebrates their 25th anniversary by launching a

new logo

•Nominated for CR Chamber Not-for-Profit of the

Year Award

•Comox Valley office moved to a

new location.

•LINC program starts at MISA

2013

2014

2015 2016

2015 2017

2017

Page 14

Page 15

Quotes from our clients

“The staff was very helpful and friendly that made me feel comfortable to ask many

things. It lightens up my worries especially on my child. Gives me strength to face

these trials.”

“Help us to learn more about place and job connections.”

“They are always helpful and we really appreciate it.”

“Much sufficient and very helpful to us.”

“We always got information that we need from Settlement workers. They are all

accommodating and make us feel welcome anytime.”

“You guys are doing great of helping us. Many thanks to that.”

info@ImmigrantWelcome.ca www.ImmigrantWelcome.ca

A114—740 Robron Road

Campbell River, BC

V9W 6J7

T: (250) 830-0171

F: (250) 830-1010

407 A 5th Street

Courtenay, BC

V9N 1J7

T: (250) 338-6359

F: (250) 331-9032