Surrey Foundation Awards Welcoming & Inclusive Communities Funding

The Surrey Foundation is pleased to announce that funding, totaling $77,000, has been awarded  to five community projects that will contribute to making Surrey a more welcoming and inclusive community.

The five projects cover four essential life areas – family, economics, education and community. They also focus on a wide range of organizations and community sectors. The goal of the projects is to implement practical, innovative initiatives that will have a focused, positive impact on those being served.

The Surrey Public Library, in connection with OPTIONS, will address an absolutely key issue, which is informing newcomers about, and connecting them to, skill appropriate work by developing a program entitled “Opening Doors to Employment in Libraries”.

The Surrey Food Bank, in connection with DiverseCity’s Community Kitchen, will work with newcomers using the Food Bank to teach them how to cook with the Canadian food typically found in Food Bank hampers in combination with culturally familiar foods to produce healthy, pleasing and affordable meals.

The Kinsmen Place Complex Care Facility for seniors will undertake research to support ‘neighbourhood’ oriented placement of seniors, i.e. providing culturally appropriate services to seniors of similar cultures and backgrounds so that they can be in an environment where their language is spoken when possible, the food is familiar, etc., thus helping them feel settled and comfortable.

Umoja will undertake a project with youth and their parents which will provide them with the information youth in particular need in order to successfully adapt to living in Surrey. The project will also facilitate opportunities for parent-child dialogue, a chance for both to explore the conflicts that emerge when different values and life experiences collide.

Finally, Surrey Community Development Services, in connection with various settlement agencies, will develop a series of tours for newcomer families to expose them to the recreational, library, heritage, etc. services available in Surrey. This is very important because many newcomers would not otherwise even know about these services, or feel comfortable accessing them, or understand that they are for everyone and can be made affordable for low income earners