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.

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!

Mohamed made many mistakes when he started his cleaning business 10 years ago.  He says he wishes he had the benefit of the Entrepreneur Program that he has just completed two weeks ago.  He feels he would have got the information and tools to set up his own business without the missteps and pitfalls as he struggled to set up on his own.

Mohamed says the business program funded by ECALA is very good and he would recommend it to his family and friend to enroll in it.  He said that since it was the first class, the instructors and staff adapted and fine-tuned the curriculum as they went along.  Nevertheless, the program is extremely helpful and unsurpassed for gathering resources to set up one’s own business.

Mohamed is well known in the Guinean community as a trusted adviser and friend and many newcomers from Guinea seek his advice on learning to live in Edmonton.

On Saturday, July 28th AHC held it's 2nd Annual Community Talent Show. There were 278 attendees with a mosaic of music and cultural colors demonstrated by children, youth, adults and seniors. We had a line up at the Henna art table, the animal balloons table and the delicious food table donated by Safeway/ Sobeys and COBS bread.  Everyone one from staff, volunteers, participants and attendees were dancing and singing along.

The aim of this event was to strengthen integration between communities and show a sense of identity and belonging for people of all ages. Such activities play a very essential role in promoting sustainable social development for future generations that can act as a bridge between cultures and serve as key agents in promoting peace and intercultural understanding.

The following prizes were awarded for this event.

DANCE

Gold  Solo: Neha Bharati   14 years old    $25.00 Safeway gift card with a Misc. gift bag

Silver Solo: Sohona Maiti   9 years old     $20.00 Safeway gift card with a Misc. gift bag

Bronze Solo: Jasmine Chikhani   9 years old  $15.00 Safeway gift card with a Misc. gift bag

SINGING

Gold :  Nishat Das Choudhury 13 years old  $25.00 Cedar Sweets gift card with a Misc gift bag

Silver:  Neelabh Das Choudhury 7 years old $5.00 Tim Hortons with a Misc gift bag

Bronze: Malaz Alalo  10 years old                   Evening Purse with a gift bag

GROUP DANCING with Trophy

First:        Edmonton Qipao Club, Misc. gift bags to each person

Second:  GuruKul Napali, Misc. gift bag to each person

Third:      Persian/ Azzari group, Misc. gift bag to each person

View images from the event below

Benaiah says the ECALA funded Entrepreneurial Training Program has been a great experience. Read his testimonial below.

“When I attend class, I feel it was designed for me personally. I have learned so much."

As a newcomer from South Sudan 17 years ago, Benaiah felt trapped working many dead ends and tough jobs which left him no control over his time and wages. He was looking to improve his quality of life by having the opportunity to spend more time with his two young children and play soccer. Fortunately, he found the Entrepreneurial Program which gives him hope that he will be able to establish a trucking business as he owns his own one-ton truck. Benaiah is learning how to run his own business, marketing, networking and making a part-time venture into the trucking industry.

“I am looking forward to the time when I can make a complete shift to working for myself full time”, said Benaiah.

On Friday, August 3rd AHC held a youth summer event. The event was full of fun and entertainment with a good number of youth participants. The youth enjoyed various activities during the event, including a soccer game, painting, among other fun and games, and also has the opportunity to make new friends as well.

View images from the event below.

On Monday, October 1st - AHC attended the 3rd Annual Canadian Immigrant Fair at the Shaw Conference Center from 10-4pm. This event was hosted by the national online and print publication Canadian Immigrant - who also host similar events in several other Canadian cities. The event brought together over 200 immigrants seeking information on programs, employment information, and immigrant-related services from 17 exhibitors. The event included a resume clinic, a professional headshot photobooth, and a series of professional development sessions facilitated by guest speakers.

AHC promoted its settlement, integration, and employment supports, ECALA classes, LED program, youth club activities for immigrant youth, business development program, and volunteer opportunities. In addition, participants were able to obtain information on our upcoming programs including our upcoming Job Skills information sessions, English for Work - Workforce Participation Program, Social Media - Leadership Training Workshop, and our upcoming free flu shot clinic.

Overall, the event was well planned and attended, with the majority of the immigrants being bussed in from colleges and LINC programs throughout the city. Participants were brought in groups, guided by their instructors through each exhibitors booth. View images from the event below.

On September 20, 2018, AHC held a celebration for students from the Learning English Language for Daily Life (LED) program. This conversational-style English circle started in May 2018 at  Michener Park and Clareview Multicultural Center as a pilot project followed by two more locations, MAC Islamic Center and the AHC office. After the successful completion of the LED Pilot Project,  the LED program officially launched on September 29th at the AHC Community Hall. Around 70 people attended the celebration. 39 participants from 4 locations received their certificates of participation. The total number of eligible students has been 55 since the program started. Program manager, Suzana Dumo, presented the bouquets for the partner organizations, certificates of participation for the students, as well as appreciation certificates to the volunteer facilitators who are spent their valuable time and skills for LED program, including Mahenaz who developed the lesson plans. Four participants shared their testimonies from the LED class. View images from the event below.