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8-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, March 30, 2004 $Communît page 487 7 81 Multicultural council vibrant Halton resource By HOWARD MOZEL Special ta The Champion In some circles, the Halton Multicultural Council (HMC) may stili be perceived as a small, even quaint, cultural agency. Now marking its 25th anniversary, it bas in fact evolved into a vibrant commnunity resource as diverse as the myriad of people it serves. Srthse HMC hosts events that feature Use food, dance and other unique attributes of vari- oua countries but tbat's only Use most easily rec- ognizable tip of Use iceberg. Its main focus, how- ever, is on services ranging froro Use integration of imiùgrants into Useir new community and fostering public awarencss to English-as-sec- ond-language (ESL) classes, empînyment assis- tance and more. So doing, says employmnent counsellor and seulement workcr AI Sbanghavi, Use HMC pro- vides many newcomers wiUs Use tools and resources necessary to stsrt fresh. "We empower people to believe mn Usero- selves," be said, adding Usat Use HMC served 1,533 new clients - 1 1,283 in total fromn more Usan 30 countries - last ycar. This is not to imply Usat everyone Use HMC belps is "fieeing somneUsing terrible," said man- aging director Joanna MatUsews. lIn fact, 90 per cent of HMC clients are indec- pendent inanigrants, or Usose whose presence in Canada injects an imnmediate and beneficial eco- nomic boost to Useir adopted comrnunities by buying bouses, cars and oUser big ticket items. "Tbat's one of Use biggest miseonceptions," said Ms Matthews, adding Usat Useir profession- al expertise and business savvy are similarly valuable. Mr. Sbanghavi explained Usat it's also a failacy Usat Usey corne 10 Canada only to sponge off Use social safety net, wben really wbat Usey want mnost is to becomne contributing memrbers of soci- ety. As such, Usey psy taxes, start businesses and more. "Tbey're not bere lu take," said LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomners lu Canada) co-ordinator Lynn DeLaUsouwer. Many corne to Usis country wiUs bigb expecta- tions, said Ms MatUsews, but find il "not su easy to move forward." 'Meir main hurdie, added Mr. Shangbsvi, is the language ban-jer, followed by problems havmng Useir foreign education recognized, especially for doctors. Gaining "Canadian experience" is third. OnIy adding to this frustration, said Ms DeLathouwer, are those wilimg to actively take advantage of newcomners, like landiords who make tenants pay s year's worth of rent in advance. Many facets of program The HMC offers s host of programa and serv- ices to help better equip immnigrants to avoid somne of these pitfails wbile bolstering their con- fidence and improving thesr chances for employ- ment. "These are survival skills," said Ms Matthews. T1hey range from settlement and integration, interpretation and translation and LINC to job search workshops and multicultural/anti-racisn education. Funding is an ever-present challenge tbough, so HMC's "youth for youth" and Ethnic Seniors Network have been temporarily can- celled. "The HMC can't help people with resources they don't bave, includmng helpmng foreigni pro- fessionals re-enter their fields," said Mr. Shanghavi. 'Me goals of ail these efforts include, but aren't limited to, facilitsting the settlement of immi- grants and refugees into, the comuniùty; devel- oping community education programs to rncrease awareness of the needs of immigrants and refugees and fostering cross-cultural com- munication and understanding; encouragmng the developmnent of support groups and community orgaizations for immigrants and refugees; pro- moting cultural activities and special events designed to represent cultural heritage and develop inter-cultural underssanding. Such is the impact ail this has on clients - that many of them waste no timne giving back to the organization and the community that offered thero assistsnce. Take for example the Taiwanese womnan in her thirties who attended LINC classes then felt s0 good about ber akills she taught anti-discrimina- tion workshops for grade 2 students. ase. SKILLS on page 9 ?VCOGECO Cogeco Cable Programming Schedule - Tuesday, March 3o - Monday, Apil 6,2004 ftIyI.ca Tleison Channel 14 RçMcg co c 5pm, P5g», p p P ssgg. lE! Sp.n Rpin Pssgpdd E. ", 6pn, P5sggd lE 5-, 6p,, PLgged n! Spin 6pn Plugg.d lff 557 P. K5'd nE & 7:30p,. Ea WM55E 5WM Ed ltRln Ead 73257 E57y ..: E.53 & 7.30571 Lft W. :.P.~ Laie jWM. Eden, & 7:3p Lae. S55. Editio &-P- Lai Wmi dti NORTH~~~~~~~307 AsTO STDO53P S,55E xff opSek nObiHatiCnco h. 5: With Gssd TasE. 630p.. péi 5571 rV B..gs iUR 6:3055. Be EraERd Hall' , , MD". 5555 I 1p n 7 F-t Launer Plaza ,.ss... Hhm FüU & MI& 710p. S.W Td.k (UsEf 7,0p5. Tt. ti&Is - 800P Mne RVe 7:00p U ses 03,51- M. 22 8SmO. MAt. rcNs,. 8005.. main555 "80rn F571B 70 500 Launer Avenue mu5s29 ffly Stms eR75 S0E7SZE,5L-575M) Milton, ON 19T 41R3 905-878-9306 "Swap Talk" - TVCogeco's Live Garage Sale Wednesday, 7pm