Our Community Blogs share stories from across our work with equity-deserving communities, highlighting AHC programs, partnerships, and community-led initiatives in action. Through reflections, updates, and success stories, we showcase how culturally responsive programming and inclusive service delivery support individuals and groups to strengthen wellbeing and build capacity.
Alongside program insights, you’ll find community success stories and testimonials that reflect the impact of collaboration, participation, and grassroots leadership. Together, these blogs offer a practical and people-first look at how communities are advancing their own wellbeing and prosperity, with AHC walking alongside them as a partner.
On Saturday, April 6, EAC/AHC artist in residence Luciana Erregue hosted an art workshop for kids at AHC. The theme was Edmonton’s street art. Each child made a large piece of graffiti-inspired artwork to take home. Grafitti with its use of words and images is an excellent tool to teach early literacy. View the images below.
On Thursday May 2nd. Women from the settlement team held a Mother’s Day celebration for the Syrian/Arabic clients at AHC.
Mother's Day is an important holiday everywhere. We wanted to do something special to honour mothers and their families who will be celebrating their Mother's Day in Canada and for those who still remain in war-torn areas.
"The Treaty 6 acknowledgment was presented by Freda, who welcomed everyone to this territory. Treaty 6 encompasses the traditional territories of numerous western Canadian First Nations as well as the Meìtis people who have called this area home since time immemorial. This support has been a fun-filled and sentimental event for everyone. Many of the Newcomer women are without their own mothers. We wanted to make it our mission to show that we care about them and their mothers or mother figures that they left behind to assuage the pain of living apart from them. Every day, moms around the world inspire their daughters to become strong women. Together, these role models are an unstoppable force forging opportunity for the next generation, whether by leading by example or empowering them with education. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all the individuals that supported us directly or indirectly with donations or assistance. Their names are clearly shown on the slide show." - Rola Chehayeb, Case Settlement Supervisor
On Friday, August 2nd - participants of AHC's various Learning English of Daily Life (L.E.D) classes joined together are Borden Park for fun, activities and a multicultural potluck. The L.E.D program is designed to help adult newcomers to Canada fulfill their needs to overcome the language barrier so they feel comfortable and confident to communicate in their new homeland. The program is currently offered in seven locations throughout the city.
Program Objectives:
For more information on this program, contact Abida Tahir at: (780) 944-4687 ext. 222
View images from the event below.
On July 19, 2019, Parks Canada in collaboration with AHC hosted a Learn to Camp workshop for 43 attendees from Syria and Kurdistan. The 3 hours session covered camping rules and regulations and how to stay safe from the wildlife and how to protect and be considerate of nature. Some helpful tips given to the newcomers included:
The Parks Canada Learn-to Camp helps newcomers with the skills and experience to fully enjoy the great Canadian outdoors with safety features, tent set up, fire safety and animal hazards.
View images from the event below!
On Thursday, September 19th from 4-7 pm AHC held it's 7th Annual Diversity Health Fair at Kingsway Shopping Centre in collaboration with Alberta Health Services. Staff and volunteers engaged with individuals and groups to continue the reflection and learning to sustain actions that create community health and well-being.
Our generous supporters this year were Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Alberta Transportation Office of Traffic Safety. We hold this annual health fair to improve access to, and orientate, community members & newcomers to health and emergency services available in Edmonton.
Poor access to health services means that an individual is less likely to participate in preventive care, and more likely to delay medical treatment. A Health Provider- managed health fair that targets the community’s needs will help fill the health access gap for vulnerable and underserved populations who often experience health inequities.
There were children's activities provided onsite including a balloon artist. Participants were able to obtain information on injury prevention, pregnancy, dental health, optometry, HIV/Std's, blood typing, diabetes and blood pressure testing, Child car seat safety, nutrition and more! Participants also had opportunities to win door prizes and gift baskets courtesy of Westmount Dental. This event allowed people to connect and have the opportunity to reach out to the diverse communities in our great city in the hopes to create awareness about Alberta Healthcare System and to enhance a healthier lifestyle. Much appreciation for the continuous support goes to our community businesses for their generous donations: Cedar Sweets, Safadi, Sun Bake, Paradiso, Mediterranean Pita, Pizza Hut, Pizza 73 and Arbonne gifts from dear Sandra Fayyad, Buster's Pizza (10640-116 street) Hado Akl, Amal Monzer, Spasation Gift Certificate from Mr. Yehia Assaf, in addition to the many volunteers who helped brignt this event to life!
View images from this event below!
On September 26, 2019 from 12-1 pm Luciana Erregue performed her final poetry reading titled, "Knowledge Translation" a series of lyric essays and poems about office work, her final poetry reading as she wraps up her tenure as Edmonton Arts Council Artist in Residence at Action for Healthy Communities.
Luciana was selected as the 2019 Artist in Residence through a partnership between AHC and the Edmonton Arts Council. Luciana is a Canadian-Argentinian multilingual poet (Spanish-English-Italian), art historian (MA 2016, University of Alberta), and educator. She will be with us as an Artist in Residence until October 1st, 2019.
During her time at AHC she has hosted a number of spoken word and poetry reading, facilitated art workshops for children and youth, and provided guided tours at the Alberta art gallery for our program participants. We enjoyed having Luciana share her love for art and poetry with our team and look forward to following her journey.
View pictures from the event below.
AHC team members participated in some office fun this Halloween through fun costumes and treats! view images of the team below.
To help our communities get ready for AI, on Saturday, November 23, 2019, AHC held a community leadership training workshop on “The Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on our Life”. The purpose of this leadership training workshop is to educate our community leaders as pioneers to recognize, acknowledge, and fully embrace how AI can transform the way we will live and work.
Sponsored by the City of Edmonton, in partnership with Alberta Artificial Intelligence Association, the workshop achieved a big success. Near 300 participants, including volunteers, AI demo presenters, and performers attended our event. We invited five professors from the University of Alberta and experts in the field to provide training to our audiences. The topics were very comprehensive and holistic, including mental health, physical health, economy, education, multimedia and business. Participants reported that it was a very knowledgeable, innovative and successful leadership workshop. The speakers provided a holistic picture of how AI would impact our lives in the near future. Participants also stated that through the workshop they have learned some basic knowledge about AI and raised their awareness of AI. Meanwhile, they enjoyed the AI demos, performances, food, socializing and had a lot of fun as well. CBC Edmonton and Diversity Magazine came and covered the event. This is the first leadership training on AI awareness and readiness at the community level in Edmonton. We believe it will help Edmontonians adapt to the age of AI.
View images of the event below!
On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, AHC held its annual volunteer appreciation event at the AHC main office (downtown). This event was co-hosted by Michelle Luyimbazi (volunteer coordinator) and Rola Chehayeb (community development lead). The event brought together over 80 people including volunteers, community partner agencies, staff, and performers, who gathered in order to recognize and celebrate the enormous contributions that AHC volunteers and community partners provide to various areas of the organization (programming, administration, accounting, special events, children & youth programs, settlement services, entrepreneurial supports, English & Computer training among others). AHC was able to award 50 volunteers certificates of excellence based on volunteer hours totalling 30 or more in 2019. Two volunteers ( Marilyn Scott and Farman Elahi) contributed more than 200 hours in 2019. There were also 50 certificates of appreciation given to several partner agencies including (Edmonton Food Bank, Santa's Anonymous, Dickinsfield Amity House, One World One Centre, St. Francis Women's LINC Program and more). It was a great pleasure to share a meal, enjoy several performances from the AHC community, hear testimonies from volunteers, and acknowledge such a significant part of Action for Healthy Communities. In 2019 volunteers contributed more than 8000 volunteer hours towards various areas of the organization, and continue to play a vital role in the day-day operations of the agency. For more information on volunteering with AHC click here.
View images from the event below.
On Friday, February 28th, AHC staff including Executive Director, Aftab Khan met with the Mayor of Camrose, Norm Mayer at Camrose City Hall. The team had a productive meeting where they discussed future services AHC is planning, to assist Camrose immigrants and newcomers.
Watch the RECAP Video of the Sport For Newcomers initiative project, under the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada and in collaboration with Action for Healthy Communities and the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre (Toronto).
The Sport For Newcomer Initiative was an 8-month project in collaboration with the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada. This initiative's goal was to increase newcomer youth participation in community sports and address the barriers for newcomers to actively participate in sports activities, and to enhance the capacity of newcomer support organizations to continue to work on creating an inclusive and welcoming environment working with cross-sectoral partners.
During the last 8 month period, AHC worked alongside a Sport Works Officer, Kristina Turner, to achieve the goals that were set out. Kirstina accomplished quite a lot during the short period as following but not limited to:
- Facilitated partnership with various stakeholders and raised awareness of the importance of an inclusive and welcoming environment for newcomers
- Connections to supporters and resources
- Compiled and developed efficient resource list and tools for us to continue to support newcomer families and youth
- Provided support and connection between families/youth in need and the resources so they were able to have the meaningful experience they never had
Action for Healthy Communities is proud to once again celebrate the work of our entrepreneurs who have participated in our Entrepreneurship Supports Program.
On September 18, 2020, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm we will be holding a virtual launch celebration for our participants and their family members.
On September 19, 2020, from 1 pm to 5 pm we will be holding an in-person market to celebrate with local vendors from Edmonton. We believe in supporting local businesses and helping them grow within the community. Many vendors are inspired by their cultural roots, and we hope to bring them all together to showcase our diverse city.
By shopping local you will be supporting your community and find more interesting products; whether that’s Himalayan jewelry or organic, feminine products.
Check out our list of vendors, and stay updated about the event by following our social media channels: Facebook: @action4 | Instagram: @action4hc | Twitter: @action4hc
Strict COVID-19 protocols will be followed (masks, temperature/symptoms checks, social distancing, and cleaning/disinfecting) will be followed in accordance with Alberta Health regulations.
List of vendors:
Arts and Crafts:
Keevin Rider, Rider Native Art Gallery
Yazmin Escobar, Solekankolor
Tania Brito, Mexican Soul Crafts and Gifts
Natalia Capacho, Morena Mia
Jamelle Davis, JD Art
Mitali Banerjee, Mitali’s Artistry
Jonas Cameron, Urban Expression Customs
Maria Rodrigues, The Creative Artisan
Beauty:
Ashe Adekunle, House of Ashe
Teddine Stanford, Vagikini Magic
Community:
Vanessa Benavides, Vane Image Studio
Karem Velez, Inclusive
Amparo Gonzalez, Edmonton Hispanic Women’s Support Group
Jiken Madhu, Rollout Technologies
Modupe Adeniyi, Sapphimor Ventures
Cailenys Salazar, DryPod
Fashion:
Maria Teresa Jimenez, El Closet De Tere
Farhan Ali, Dusandi and Sons Trading
Alèthe Kaboré , KYN Apparel
Valentine Maposa, Perfect Pair Swimwear
Nicola, Klassickoutique Fashion
Jenny Serrato Ardila, Pawies Boutique
Food:
Dosi-rock, Korean Street Food
Martha Vasquez, Tico Cheese
Aimee Mpilidi, Wenze Market and Grill
Maria Ramirez, Maguita Antojitos Colombianos
Dongo Kouakou, Dongo Corporation
Jewellery:
Yamileth Gonzalez, Mexican Crafts
Shiva Prajapati, Himalayan Jewelry and Handicrafts
Joelle Kacou, Jean Wenceslas Jewels
Sara Awatta, Onsie Boutique
Donna Robillard
We’ll see you on September 19, 2020
For more information on this event please email: business.supports@a4hc.ca
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