20 - Wednesday, October 2, 1996 ~ North Shore News Providing a sel By Margaret Third _ Contributing Writer THE North Shore Multicultural Society (NSMS) has been at its new 15th and Lonsdale location now for over a year, after being in existence since 1991. The name “Multicultural Society” is misleading, because it does not capture the fact that the majority of the activity currently being carried out falls under the cat- egory of settlement services. This is true of many of the multicultural societies in the province. Settlement services involves providing assistance to new- comers to Canada in order to help them integrate more smoothly into our North Shore society. With staff who speak Farsi (Persian), and Cantonese and Mandarin among the Chinese dialects, assisted by staff and volunteers who command a number of other languages, we offer a variety of services from simply providing infor- mation and referral to the appropriate agency, interpret- ing and translating, organizing a series of orientation or edu- cational seminars on topics such as ICBC or the banking . system in Canada; setting up English as a Second Language classes with a special program for seniors, who learn in a dif- ferent fashion and find much of the structured program- ming unhelpful; or providing help with writing a resume and. accessing the job market, Immigrants and refugees invariably ask for help in tvo areas — jobs and learning English — and these are acknowledged as key clements to feeling at home in the new country. Another area is that in which the participants learn from each other. In the Host Program, Canadians and immigrants are partnered to provide support for the newcomer and give the Canadian the opportunity to _ learn about the other's cul- ture, Our Women’s drop-in pro- gram falls into this category, as immigrant women come together to learn about Canadian culture, share their own culture with each other, and provide mutual support. A similar peer support group exists for Chinese- speaking men and women Let ir Snow! {4 Rossignol AP teoumsis who help each other in their efforts to integrate into their new country, Migration, whether forced — as is the case with refugees —— or voluntary, for most immigrants, is a stressful pracess. Our role is to try to facili- tate this process. Some people have said that there were no settlement agencies available to help the many immigrants who came over in the past, and question the need for them today. There were situations of course when the immigrants were completely on their own, bur in reality most found assis- tance through their co-reli- gionists in the churches, syna- gogues and mosques, or through members of their own ethnic group who had come earlier, Today’s settlement agen- cies began in many cases as an outgrawth of the movement we usually-eall the Boat People, when large numbers of Vietnamese refugees were brought to Canada in the late *70s and early ’80s. However, they existed in some areas in a similar form after the Second World War, often tied to religious organi- zations, and even earlier. As life became ever-more complex and the variety of source countries from which refugees and immigrants came increased, there was a recogni- tion that newcomers needed an organized and stable sys- tem of‘ assistance to make a Sx. Pro Goate Chest Pads. *429.99 smoother and more efficient transition. We see ourselves as the bridge to the mainstream, making it possible for new- comers to use the services available to all residents of Canada, and helping these ser- vices to become more accessi- Twin, double, queen or king. COMPARE 80.00 - 200.00 PERCALE SHEET SETS Hy Twin, double, queen or king. rn COMPARE 50.00 - 120.00 PILLOW SHAMS COMPARE $20 JUST ARRIVED With each new group of clients, our responsibility is to help them become self-suffi- cient as quickly as possible, not to create a dependency on settlement services in a parallel system. Learning English is the key, but we recognize that developing a high enough lan- guage level to deal with com- plex issues can take time, and it is in this interim that our services become the bridge. While settlement has become a major focus, the work in multiculturalism goes on, in the form of promoting cross-cultural understanding and assisting our community here on the North Shore to cope with the challenges of living in a diverse society. — Margaret Third is the executive director of the North Shore Multicultural Society. DESIGNER COMFORTERS ASSORTED WALANCES COMPARE $20 © MAKE-UP ¢ DECORATIONS © SAFETY ITEMS © CANDY SAVE AT LEAST ° Designer ‘Top Quality “ ‘SURREY OFF REG. RETAIL 39-69” | 24-59” | CURTAINS SAVE AT LEAST 50%. ‘GFF RETAIL! -* Slight cosmetic blemishes SILK | FLOWERS * Great for Interior Decorating wow %, OFF U.S. RETAIL | LOVE N OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Ef 7 DAYS A WEEK ig eLAY IT AGAIN |15987-108th Ave." SPORTS) Bae ~ 1180 Marine Dr. . ~ Worth Vancouver ;