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“ using Chilliwack Community Services Immigrant Services are Romanian, German and Russian. Not only can language be a barrier but cultural differences can also make newcomers to our community hesitant and unsure. We all want to live in an open and caring community, and want to raise children who are tolerant of all cultures. There are many ways we can show this in our day-to-day lives: • Respect that people from different cultures bring new things to learn and share. • Be patient when you see others not responding the way you’re accustomed to. • Invite newcomers to share in different leisure activities. • Acknowledge differences in faith and spirituality. There are some great benefits to being a welcoming, diverse community: • Increased business opportunities for businesses and educational
institutions . • Skilled workers and foreigntrained professionals that can fulfill employment needs. • Stronger networks among business, government, community and cultural organizations. • Greater collaborative capacity to respond to new and emerging issues. When we all work together to
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When we all work together we become stronger
Chilliwack’s Changing Face Imagine you are in a grocery store. You approach the checkout with a cart full of groceries and just a few steps behind you is a man or a woman with a basket of only a few items. You smile and say, “You only have a few items, why don’t you go ahead?” The response you get is a blank stare—no smile, no response. You’re about to motion for the person to go ahead of you, but they walk away to another checkout. You stare in wonder. What’s her problem, you might think. But it’s very likely the only problem is that it’s a recent immigrant to Chilliwack who doesn’t speak English or isn’t comfortable with the language level they have. It could be the culture of their home country is very different when it comes to being addressed by strangers, and he or she was uncertain how to respond. Newcomers to Chilliwack aren’t always easy to identify. In fact, some of the most recent nationalities
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welcome immigrants to the City of Chilliwack, we become a stronger, more vibrant community, and that helps the well-being of everybody. For more information on how you can get involved with Chilliwack Community Services, and Immigrant Services specifically, contact Julie Pariseau at 604393-3251 ext. 223, or by email at pariseauj@comserve.bc.ca.
To be a leading partner in helping our community be the best it can be
Immigrant Services Settlement Services Information, workshops and orientation sessions for newcomers and referrals to community services. Employment Services Information about the local labour market and help to find work or develop a career strategy. ELSA (English Language Services for Adults) Lear Learn beginning and advanced English in a safe and welcoming environment. Childcare is provided. welc d. Conversation Class Co
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Immigration A closer look at
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Past and present celebrated at CGH event Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
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Allison Gilbert (right) helps Golriz Fadaie through a level 1 English lesson at Chilliwack Community Services on Thursday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Feeling at home in Chilliwack Immigration leading to ‘multicultural’ community here Robert Freeman The Progress At first blush, immigration has not changed the face of Chilliwack all that much. We seem to remain the “country” community with a soft industrial base providing jobs that allows us a measure of self-containment. But when the B.C. government announced a $116,000 grant last
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November to deliver English language instruction to immigrants and refugees in the Chilliwack area, The Progress decided to take a closer look at the immigration picture. Over the next several weeks, The Progress will publish a series about immigration, with the aim of giving readers an inside look at the immigrant experience. It might also serve as a reminder that in fact we are all immigrants here, as any of the first inhabitants - the Sto:lo - can tell you. We invite anyone with a compelling story about their immigration experience to contact us. But our findings to date already
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suggest that we are on the verge of some exciting changes, of becoming a multi-cultural community that retains the best of the “old” and cultivates the “new” with its breathtaking diversity of cultures from around the world. Unlike other Lower Mainland communities where “pockets” of specific immigrant groups have grown up, Chilliwack currently has “new arrivals” from 38 different countries speaking 24 different languages. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but there’s no doubt the immigrant population is growing here – albeit not as fast as the non-immi-
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grant population. The 2006 census says there are 9,640 immigrants in Chilliwack or about 14 per cent of the total 69,217 population. In 1986 there were 7,475 immigrants, but they made up 18 per cent of a smaller total population. “The biggest source of new arrivals isn’t immigrants, but inmigration,” says Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz. “People moving from within B.C. to Chilliwack.” Coming here for all the reasons everyone else does: lower housing costs, recreational opportunities and jobs. Continued: CANADA/ p5
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Holding simultaneous celebrations for two major milestones at Chilliwack General Hospital can be a bit tricky to coordinate. But event organizers accomplished the feat on Friday morning, which involved burying a time capsule and unveiling new artwork by local Sto:lo artists. Celebrations were underway in the ER seating area to trumpet both the $35-million redevelopment and the hospital’s 100th anniversary. “The new and renovated facilities will help us continue to meet the growing health care needs of Chilliwack and its surrounding communities,” said Arden Krystal, Fraser Health VP of Clinical Operations. The past was contrasted with the future as Krystal noted the first hospital was built in 1911 for only $10,000 with no debt. “It had 12 beds, and at the time Chilliwack’s population was between 1,500 and 2,000 people,” she said. “Today this hospital has 138 beds, and Chilliwack’s population has grown to more than 86,000 residents.” Upgraded facilities include a new lab, lobby and emergency room, as well as renovated areas like ambulatory care, cardiopulmonary, medical day care, pediatric offices and a new education room.