We at Action for Healthy Communities recently honoured our many volunteers at our Year-End Celebration. We cannot express how grateful we are to all our volunteers in 2024 for volunteering their time and effort and helping us support our clients and communities. Without your kindness and contributions, we would not 30 successful years of building healthy communities.

We would like to thank the following for their contributions in 2024.

The following is a testimony sent in from one of our clients.

I am a father of seven children, all under 14, and we moved to Canada in May 2023. Like many newcomers, my wife, children, and I faced many challenges, especially when navigating the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) application process.  

A community friend who applied for CCB last year assured me he could fill out the application for my whole family. However, because of the language barrier, we were unsure of the steps he took to apply for CCB.   

After waiting almost 14 months for a response from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), we received a letter requesting numerous documents related to our family situation. This left us puzzled about what was needed and why so many documents were required.   

We reached out to supports in Edmonton to assist us with the documents, and even though it was crucial to receive support, we were told to just wait for CRA to contact us.   

My wife and I gave up on receiving CCB benefits as it did not seem worth the confusion or hassle. Even though we knew it was essential to receive these benefits, we instead borrowed money from friends to get by.  

When I started school in September 2024, a classmate referred me to Mina from Action for Healthy Communities. He told me if I really wanted to sort out CCB, then Mina could help me with important applications.  

I took his advice and came to AHC as a walk-in client. After completing the intake form, she followed up with me shortly and set an appointment. She guided me step-by-step and helped me contact the CRA office. We waited for more than 2 hours on the phone, and Mina helped us interpret our conversation with CRA, explaining our situation.  

After clarifying our situation to the CRA Agent, they extended our deadline and assured us that our application would not be declined if we mailed them the requested documents.  

Mina continued her tremendous support, helping me and my children interpret doctors at appointments, assisting with drafting letters to the school, and contacting other organizations explaining our situation and the challenges we have faced.  

From the very first step, Mina helped us gather all the documents we needed and helped mail them to CRA before the deadline. Thankfully, we received a letter from CRA stating that they would release our benefits from the date we arrived in Canada. The amount we received was a huge benefit to our family as the past year we have faced numerous financial struggles.  

I am speechless; I have no other words to say but to give a big thank you to Mina and AHC for your continued support, compassion, and kindness. I am blessed that I took my classmate's advice and came to the AHC office and will not forget what you have done for me and my family.   

Settlement and Integration Services

If you are looking for services similar to the success story above, contact communiactions@a4hc.ca to book a free settlement and integration consultation.

On Saturday, February 16, AHC's Youth Soccer team had a friendly soccer game with the Ethiopian community soccer team at Commonwealth Stadium. The youth had the opportunity to meet new friends and have a fun time. For more information on AHC's Youth Soccer Club or other Youth Club Activities click here!

On February 10th, AHC staff and clients attended the 2018 Women’s Symposium event, organized by Women's Initiative Edmonton and sponsored by the City of Edmonton. City Councillor Bev Esslinger and Honourable Stephanie McLean, Minister of the Status of Women joined several guest speakers to share knowledge on how we can impact and influence our society as a women. In addition, the full-day event was packed with several breakout sessions which allowed the women to experience more target sessions led by various female leaders in the community. The event was hosted at the Westin Hotel. View images from the event below.

On Wednesday, February 14th, Lawyer Janan Jarrah facilitated a legal information session for the Syrian newcomer where she discussed:

•  Law and regulations applied with Family Violence, consequences of divorce, and spousal support regulations
• Tenants’ rights and responsibilities
• Business relations and ethics in the professional work field and community services relations highlighting “bordering sexual harassment”
• Money loaning and regulations applied to pertaining your rights as well as the law behind child care benefit money
• Travel regulations aboard with legal rights of Canadian Citizens transporting and money handling

View images of the session below.

On Thursday, March 8, AHC joined several other service providers and community members to celebrate International Women's Day at City Hall. The event saw many Edmontonians stop by to learn about various resources and initiatives being offered around the city for women. In addition there were presentations from Mayor Don Iveson, Elder Betty Letendre, Minster Stephanie McLean, among others. The event was a great way to recognize and honour women, including the many within the city who contribute towards many women's initiatives. There was a  Women's Leadership Award presented to Mauriel Stanley Venne. This event was held in partnership with Women's Initiative Edmonton; view images from the event below.

On Thursday, March 8th AHC held its semi-annual Job Fair event at Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre. Over 250 guests stopped by to visits the booths of the employers and service providers. View images of the event below.

On Saturday March, 31st,  Mr. Ziad Aboultaif, Canadian (Federal) Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Manning joined the Ready to Work program as a guest speaker to talk about Public Service, the focus of this month. The MP shared his story as an immigrant, and what life steps he took to become the community leader he is today.  The event was a success and the I.M.P.A.C.T (Leadership) program took the chance to offer their students certificates in the presence of MP. The MP met youths one by one, and shared with us how he emigrated 28 years ago, only knowing how to say Good Morning to becoming a Member of the Canadian Parliament. The MP also learned more about AHC and gave students insight on how to volunteer and get educated to become a Public Servant. Youths learned that volunteering is key in the community, while there is no singular route of education for governance. It was refreshing to see newcomer girls interested in governance. View images from the event below! 

AHC's Youth Soccer Club met on Thursday, May 31st to a provide an general review of team's achievements from 2016 till now, player Code of Conduct, opportunity for team leadership roles, and 2018 Action Dash Event participation & volunteering opportunities. View images from the meeting below.

On Wednesday June 6, 2018. AHC held its 23rd Annual General Meeting, gathering our Board of Directors, members, staff, volunteers, and clients to review our achievements over the last year. AHC was excited to share its exponential growth in all areas including: expanding into an additional floor at our office location (10578 113 Street), adding new programs and expanding existing ones, increasing the program sites offered, increasing our funding, and continued growth in the number of clients and participants engaging with our organization.

Over the last fiscal year AHC was able to serve and engage over 10,000 clients and participants in over 30 programs and services. We opened our recently expanded and enhanced Resource Centre to better serve our community members. W engaged 291 volunteers and students who collectively contributed more that 20,000 hours of their time to serving the organization in a number of program areas, and worked along side over 150 partners, supporters, in addition to over 80 members.

Over the next year we will continue focusing our efforts on the consolidation of existing programs and services by adding required resources to better respond to the needs of our clients. With the ongoing support of our donors, partners, board, staff and volunteers, we are ready for the challenges and achievements ahead in the years to come!

Thanks for making this an awesome year! 

Click here to see Diversity Magazine's coverage of our AGM!

Click here to access the digital version of our Annual Report

On Saturday, June 23rd AHC held its annual Community Action Dash event. More than 120+ people participated in the Dash to fundraise money for AHC's programs. Runners were invited to a high-energy warm-up, courtesy of the Kandela Flow Zumba Group, before taking off for their 5 and 10 k run/walks. Everyone kept in high momentum and enthusiasm and finished their 5 and 10k runs. After the race, participants were awarded medal, and along with guests and volunteers participated in the many festivities of the Health festival which followed. Guests were able to enjoy many diverse cultural performances from AHC's community members, while also partaking in food, fun, games, face painting, henna and more!

On behalf of AHC, I would like to express our sincere thanks to all our partners, sponsors, planning committee members, participants, staff, volunteers, performers as well as our special guests for all your support, efforts and contributions to make this event happen.

View pictures from the event below!