On Friday, March 4, 2022, AHC rural Small Centre's, Paola Shanks together with Sherry Depner from the Lakeland Catholic Schools, supported more than 30 young newcomers from several different communities being able to try out curling!

This event was quite successful, and the largest single-day community connections event to date for the rural Small Centres. The event also strengthened the program's relationship with the school division!

Learn more about our Rural Small Centres program here.

On October 14, 2022, AHC held its annual Diversity Health Fair workshop, emphasizing mental health, presented to the Mill Woods Seniors Association Centre. University of Alberta nursing students facilitated the session for the seniors. Participants engaged in dialogue while learning about how to promote positive mental health; healthy snacks followed the workshop.

On Sunday March 27 2022, Action for Healthy Communities was honored to enter into a partnership with Penny Appeal Canada that saw the latter, in collaboration with the Muslim Association of St. Albert (MASA), provide Ramadan food hampers of essential edibles to needy and deserving low income families, at the heels of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.  The clients were assessed by AHC for eligibility and 64 families identified by AHC benefited from the Campaign.   Over 90% of the serviced clientele were Afghan Newcomers who will be observing their first month of fasting in a new land.

The generosity of the Muslim Association of St. Albert (MASA) and Penny Appeal Canada, who each contributed 50% towards the costs associated with putting together and distributing the food hampers was well received with much gratitude and ample prayers.

Samiullah, the patriarch of a family of 9, states that the contents of the hamper were not only delivered with dignity, but with a relief of a lower grocery bill as the family observes its first Ramadan in a new land and amid national inflation.

A widowed single mother of a toddler, R.Z, was overwhelmed as she received the respectfully packaged contents of multiple balanced meals, consisting of meat, dairy, grains, cereals, and protein alternatives.  Amid tears, she prayed for ease for those who had brought her comfort and nutrition she would otherwise not have had the means to purchase.

AHC is proud of its partnership with Penny Appeal Canada for individuals and families’ assessment and recruitment process. AHC looks forward to continuing this collaboration in the future.  AHC also wishes to thank the volunteers retained by Penny Appeal Canada who personally delivered the hampers to the clients whose residences sprawled the entirety of Edmonton.

https://pennyappeal.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/StAlbertmosque

Lakeland Today, March 2022

CBC Radio Active, January 2022

Diane Umutoni is the face of Ms. Home Staging and Design. She’s a French speaker who first came to Quebec, Canada as a student completing her master in Economics at the university of Sherbrooke, to then find her way to Edmonton to become the owner of her own staging and design company where she offers services to both homeowners who are looking to sell their home and want to make their house look as appealing as possible to buyers, and to new homeowners who are in need of someone with knowledge to help them create a space that feels like home.

Diane participated in the entrepreneurship support program and completed level I and level ll of our training. During the program, she learned how to create a business plan and how to charge for her services, as well as what type of business she should implement and who her customers should be.

Design had always been a passion and a natural talent of hers which she was scared to pursue because she had no previous education on it. However, throughout our program she learned that experience mattered, and after helping her friends and family design their own homes, she had acquired enough of it to begin her entrepreneurship journey in this field.

Despite the challenges, and knowing she was entering an industry that is still relatively new yet very competitive and where it would require a lot of effort from her to persuade her potential customers that she could be trusted, as a new entrant, she never gave up. And now, after completion of the ESP program, she gained the confidence she was lacking, gained direction in life and was able to register her own business with all the paperwork that is required.

After now one year of her business being registered, she just finished designing her own website where her portfolio and information is more easily accessible to anyone interested in acquiring her services.

To know more about Diane’s work visit her website mshomestaging.com.

And to hear more stories such as this one make sure to follow us;

Instagram: @a4hc.esp

Facebook: @a4hc.esp

Youtube: AHC Entrepreneurship Support Program

Offering IT services and software solutions for businesses, Jiken Madhu, and his team at Rollout Technologies, offer technological solutions to ensure that businesses have the tools they need to operate in this fast-paced world.

Whether it's installing security cameras, website development, cloud-based solutions or mobile application design or so much more, they have the knowledge and the tools you need.

A graduate of our Spring 2019 cohort, Jiken says that taking part in the Entrepreneurship Support Program enabled him to learn how business operates in Canada, as well as gave him the help he needed in sales, marketing, and tax preparation. Today, despite COVID, Jikhen says they are serving more customers than ever before and have significantly increased their customer base, thanks to the support they received from Action for Healthy Communities. 

To learn more about this exciting new company visit them at:  https://rollouttechnologies.ca/

Pamela Funk has always been drawn to the practise of massage, and after attending Makami College became a registered massage therapist in 2014. As an RMT Funk gained experience, working with different massage clinics around Edmonton. But in 2017 was inspired to start her own massage business, Elevation Massage Therapy. By 2018, Elevation Massage Therapy had become her full time business.

Funk migrated from Paraguay, having received her Canadian citizenship through her parents and despite not being fluent in english, Funk learnt the language quickly through her work.

“I want to take care of people’s wellbeing and make sure they feel their best and valued,” says Funk. “I didn’t feel valued at the clinics I worked at, so that is why I chose to open my business.”

Working from home wasn’t easy, but Funk advertised deals on Kijiji and Facebook to boost her business.

“I started with a lower price and offered direct billing to insure companies,” she says. She adds the main reason for this was so that her clients could get to know her and how she works. Through this method, Funk now has a loyal, growing clientele. 

But Funk says she had overlooked a few aspects that are involved when starting a business.          

“First of all, I incorporated right away and without understanding the difference between sole proprietor and incorporation,” she says, adding, “I got overwhelmed with all the research I did on my own on how to run a business  — I had no idea what I was doing.”

In 2018, Funk attended the Small Business Development training program, offered by Action for Healthy Communities (AHC). Through the program, Funk learnt how to correct the mistakes she had made and grow her business.

“I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I was really hard on myself and gave up too easily.”

While attending the business courses offered at Action for Healthy Communities (AHC), Funk was coached by Kevin McDonald. She says that her mentor helped Funk with networking, budget management and marketing strategies. 

Since starting up, Funk’s business has steadily increased. Currently, Funk is working at Lakewood Physiotherapy clinic located in the southside, and continues to take clients for her mobile business as well.

By Ishita Verma

Follow us to see more sucess stories such as this one:

Instagram: @a4hc.esp

Facebook: @a4hc.esp

Youtube: AHC Entrepreneurship Support Program

Global News, August 2021

CBC Edmonton, July 2021

Global News, July 2021

Meet Nohora Muñoz, member of a family business led by women that started over 10 years ago in a small town in Colombia. On 2016, her husband accepted a job offer in Edmonton which led her and her kids to follow path. Being a member of such an incredible and unique jewelry business such as Monarca, she had to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce it to Edmonton. However due to her lack of experience in business, she decided to participate in Action for Heathy Communities' entrepreneurship support program (ESP) to gain those necessary skills to succeed and have a profitable business in this new market.

Starting the ESP in spring 2021, she was able to learn how to register her business in Alberta, gained valuable connections and business skills and is now frequently participating in local farmer markets around the city where people have been more than welcoming to the originality of their creations.

To get more information on where she'll be next visit the Monarca website at monarcashop.ca.

Follow us to see more sucess stories such as this one:

Instagram: @a4hc.esp

Facebook: @a4hc.esp

Youtube: AHC Entrepreneurship Support Program