Annual Report 2018 - 2019

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MIAG seriously takes its claim as a capacity building organization that benefits those who participate in our programs to become active and fully participating members

of the diverse communities. We are proud to continue providing essential programs for the community. One of the areas in which we have made real progress in the past twelve months is in firmly establishing our mental health programs to become our signature program in the community. We continue to provide programs for isolated seniors, abused women, youth and children, parenting skills for newcomer families and fitness activities for women and girls. Our youth soccer program now has a waiting list, which speaks volume about the popularity of the program and how our organization is filling the need in the community.

All these programs would not be offered, if it wasn't for the support from our funders. We thank the Region of Peel, United Way of Greater Toronto, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Ontario Trillium Foundation, New Horizons for Seniors Program, City of Mississauga, Canadian Tire Jump-start and the HEAL Network.

Receiving funds is great, but the bulk of the work is done by the dedicated staff members, collaborative groups and agencies as well as student placement and community volunteers who ensure that the various activities and programs are executed professionally and with conviction. My thanks and appreciation to all of them. I would like to pay a personal tribute to Huda Abbas, the ED of MIAG for steering the organization to where it is today. I also want to thank all the members of the board of directors for their unwavering commitment and in-put in making sure that our organization is sustained and successful. To each and every one of you, my sincere thanks and appreciation.

It would be a miss if I were not to thank all the participants who participate in our programs. Your support and participation is invaluable and allows this organization to make informed decisions based on scientific data collected from the programs.

Finally, this year, we at MIAG lost a very dear friend and former staff member, Elsa Galan who succumbed to her illness on June 12 in her home country, Columbia. We pray for her soul and for her family.

Dr. Salha Jeizan

Chair, Board of Directors

Message from MIAG’s Chair

2018/2019 Board of Directors

Executive:Dr. Salha Jeizan, Chair

Karthika Gobinath, Vice Chair

Nermin R. Foda, Treasurer

Rosabelle Sankar, Secretary

Directors:Fauzia Khan

Myrtle Gordon

Esel Panlaqui

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At MIAG we strive to meet community needs and develop programs to serve vulner-able and disadvantaged groups. The staff and volunteers at MIAG have been work-

ing tirelessly to provide ongoing and new programs for the diverse community. In the past year, we had the pleasure of initiating the ‘Parenting for Success’ project for Syrian newcomer families by sharing essential parenting knowledge and practices. In our soccer program, children had the opportunity to be physically active, learn sportsman-ship, and make new friends. The Building Bridges project helped to instill confidence in women who created and managed their own community development initiatives. Other women from the diverse community participate regularly in the Women’s Health and Well-being Hub program. The Hub is a space where women can enjoy Aerobics and Zumba at an affordable price within a culturally appropriate environment.

Ethno-cultural seniors have become more involved in the community through the Seniors Healthy Kitchen as well as the Building Capacity of Ethno-cultural Seniors programs. These two programs were successful in increasing senior participation and connecting them to the wider community. Mental health awareness is an-other area that MIAG has tackled through offering courses. These courses helped to break the stigma of mental illness and served as a gateway to mental health counselling, which is available at MIAG through partnerships.

Let’s take this opportunity to appreciate the financial support of our funders and the genuine commitment of our partner agencies who provide their in-kind resources and join hands with MIAG to deliver quality programs and services. Many thanks to our Board of Directors, staff members, volunteers, placement students, friends and all supporters for their faith in our organization and for the invaluable contribution that they offered for the diverse community through MIAG. We also remember our beloved former staff Elsa Galan who passed away last June. Elsa was a key person in the planning and the delivery of MIAG’s programs.

Huda Abbas

Executive Director

Message from MIAG’s Executive Director

Our Staff

Huda Abbas, Executive DirectorFarida Salahuddin, Administrative AssistantLinda Le Pera, Project CoordinatorMelissa Lopes, Project CoordinatorNorka Lauper, Proposal Writer Samina Bangash, Project CoordinatorAnn Choy, Project CoordinatorAlyaa Al-Shikrchy, Project CoordinatorRaghad Idilbi, Project CoordinatorWinfred Kadoma, Proposal Writer Assistant Janat Nodjoumi, Outreach WorkerEran Derandonyan-Asombang, BookkeeperOthersHema Vaswani, Yoga TeacherLeyna Vo, Mental Health First Aid InstructorLuis Ariza, Soccer Coach

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Our Vision, Mission, Values and Objectives

V I S I O N

M I S S I O N

Working towards an inclusive and resilient community.

To enhance the capacity of individuals and families from different ethno-cultural communities through empowerment, innovation, and well-being based programs and services.

VALUES

COLLABORATION

INNOVATION

EMPOWERMENTDIVERSITY

INCLUSION

O B J E C T I V E S

To ensure the active participation of diverse communities including women, children, youth, seniors and men in social and health-related awareness building and training opportunities.

To enhance the well-being of individuals from ethno-cultural communities through counselling services.

To increase quality of programs and services provided through inter-agency collaboration and partnerships.

To develop materials and resource tools to support the inclusion of diverse communities and the professional development of service providers.

To participate in collaborative based research studies addressing different issues pertaining to the diverse communities of Peel.

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MIAG’s Operational Plan Chart 2018-2019

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Parenting for Success

This project offers parenting skills enhancement training for Syrian newcomer parents, paralleled with a learning program for their children. The program provides guidance to help parents raise successful

children in Canada and also helps newcomer parents overcome various challenges that they may encoun-ter. It is designed for parents of children aged 6 - 12 years old.

During the past fiscal year, three out of seven rounds; consisting of six workshops in each round, were delivered. A total of 105 parents and 106 children participated in the program. Professional speakers delivered workshops in Arabic, highlighting essential parenting related topics such as: the School System, Men-tal Health, Social Awareness, Parenting Styles, the role of CAS and more. Children received help with social skills development and learning enhancement.

This project is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

This program promotes the love of sport in children whilst contributing to healthy child development. At its most basic level, not only does soccer instill the habit of active living in a young life but it also

promotes the importance of teamwork and the reward of disciplined efforts.

In the past summer season, 65 boys and girls from Mississauga participated in this program. Children developed leadership skills such as team work and collaboration, while they were enjoying the 16- week soccer program. The parents and guardians had the opportunity to relax under the sun, while watching their children playing happily. Some parents volunteered for the program.

The program concluded with a tournament where trophies and awards were presented to the children participants accompanied with their enthusiastic cheers.

This project is funded by the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities and sponsored by the Mississauga Central Lions Club.

Multicultural Children’s Soccer Program

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NewCan Students Rise

In collaboration with the Sheridan College, MIAG delivered the NewCan Students Rise Program which was an interactive series of workshops provided to newcomer students at Sheridan College / Davis Campus. The

project helped newcomer youth increase community engagement, build friendships and expand their social network. They shared their experiences in an effort to connect cross culturally.

Among the goals was reducing social isolation and helping newcomer students integrate into the Canadian society. It covered certain topics such as mental health, human and legal rights in Canada, barriers faced by newcomers in Canada, etc.

A total of 45 newcomer students participated in this educational and informative program. They gained valuable knowledge and skills, and achieved a sense of belonging within their Sher- i-dan community as well as in Canadian society.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade (Ontario).

Volunteers and Students Journey with MIAG

MIAG provides meaningful opportunities to volunteers and students through our volunteer engage-ment program. Last year more than 170 volunteers and students were involved in our organization.

We recognize the value that volunteers and students bring to our organization, and we involve them in professional development opportunities that enhance their readiness for the job market. For more information or if you are interested in volunteering with our organization please email: farida@miag.ca

Student's Story

“My name is Christie and I am a practicum student at MIAG. Since starting my placement in September, I’ve been exposed to many aspects of social work. I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Project Coordinators. While acting as program assistant, I was able to develop skills that were outside my com-fort zone, but allowed me to grow as a professional. For instance, I used to be terrified of public speaking, but with the support and encouragement from the staff , I was able to develop my facilitation skills to the point where I was able to facilitate drop-in sessions myself. This organization has also allowed me to work in research, data collection and analysis, and evaluation side of program development. I am also able to work with clients at a micro-level and support them with their personal goals. In addition, the staff values the work of volunteers and placement students, and they always create a space for growth and positivity for us. Overall, my experience with this organization has been amazing.” Christianne Reyna, Placement Student

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Building Bridges: Immigrant Women Skills Enhancement

Building Bridges aims to close the gap for immigrant women and provides information about Canadian society, capacity building training and helps them to be more active in their communities.

In the past year, Building Bridges participants volunteered for the community assisting with over 2000 hours for over 30 organizations. Here are some of them:

Region of Peel Early Literacy program, Owenwood Public School, Riverside Public School, St. Patrick Church, Mississauga Christian Womens club, Brian W. Fleming Public School, Saint Dominic Church, MIAG, Divine Mercy School, Salvation Army, Mississauga Food Bank, COSTI, PCHS, Knights Table, Brampton Com-munity Kitchen, Hamilton School Board, Active Living Mississauga, Spectra Community Services.

Here are some of the community projects accomplished last year:

Ovation – in partnership with Volunteer MBC, helping to reduce senior’s isolation in our community

Breakfast ambassadors – cooking and serving breakfast for homeless community members in Brampton at the Regeneration Community Kitchen

Peel Health services seminar – Seminars conducted in Brampton for women to under-stand all available free health care services in Peel.

School supplier’s donation – Our 1st international project, collection of school supplies for a small village in Africa.

Community garden project – assisting seniors with their shared residential garden

Community Park clean up – clean up of the community park that is used by 2 public schools and commu-nity members

Building Bridges is a 3-year project that is funded by Ontario Trillium Foundation. The project will be completed on September 2019.

Here are some of the year 3 outcomes

BB participants developed and contributed to 10 Community Projects in Brampton and Mississauga that impacted directly and indirectly over 2000 community members

BB participants dedicated over 2059 hours of individual volunteer work to our community.

Total 71 Workshops were delivered and 146 Women participated in past year.

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Women’s Health and Well-being Hub

This program has been organized successfully for the past 10 years. It consists of both physical exercise and healthy eating

sessions. With lots of enthusiasm, over 160 women and girls from different ethno-cultural backgrounds attended this healthy living program last year alone. They became a fan of a healthy lifestyle. It was delivered at Frank McKechnie Community Centre on a weekly basis. It offered fun-filled Zumba and Aerobics sessions for an hour led by qualified instructors. After the exercise, healthy food demon-stration sessions were ran for 30 minutes where women enhanced their knowledge and understanding of healthy eating. Women greatly enjoyed and gained the benefits of this affordable and culturally appropriate program. It assisted them to make an impact not only on them, but also on their families by encouraging them to embrace healthy eating and active living.

This project is funded by the City of Mississauga.

During the past fiscal year a total of 24 Zumba and Aerobics sessions and 24 Food Demo sessions were conducted.

Based on post participation survey, women gained more knowledge and skills in physical exercise and healthy eating. They applied these practices in their personal lives more often than before (78% graded "very good" in rating)

Testimonial

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation for these fitness classes restarted. Having attended these classes for some time now I find them to be very good for my general well- being and exercise regime, and I can relate to the competent instructors who are hired to teach this program. The food demo classes also increases the interest of participants as it teaches us to prepare & eat healthy food. Thanks MIAG for your commitment towards women of all ages thus enabling us to be part of this program, it has motivated me to be more active, and I find that by attending these Zumba & Aerobic classes plus taking note of the healthy food tips my cardio routine and overall health and wellness has improved.”

Participant - L.R.

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In collaboration with the HEAL (Helping End Abuse for Life) Network, MIAG has been spreading awareness about women abuse and children who witness abuse. More than 150 women and men from different

ethno-cultural communities participated in eight workshops that we delivered during the past fiscal year. These workshops were con-ducted in different languages such as Arabic, Urdu and English. Dialogues were opened to share different experiences and opinions in regards to domestic violence and healthy family relationships.

Abusive relationships are often hidden and happens behind closed doors. Through these workshops, we shared information about the HEAL programs and services that victims of abuse can participate in and benefit from. More awareness was shared about the impact of domestic violence on women and children, barriers victims face during an abusive relationship, issues with parenting, and then tips on building healthy family relationships.

These workshops are funded by the HEAL Network.

Women Abuse and Children Witness Abuse Workshops

Ethno-Cultural Communities Well-being Project

This Project focuses on increasing the awareness of mental health and well-being by learning more about how to help someone who is facing a mental health challenge or crisis, knowing the signs/symp-

toms, learning about where to go for help and the importance of self-care. The two components to the project are the course workshops and the counseling services.

1. Course Workshops The project offers five different courses that address mental health. These courses include Children and Mental Health, Women Abuse and Mental Health, Seniors and Mental Health, Mental Health First Aid (Ba-sic), and Mental Health First Aid for Adults who interact with Youth. Each course consists of 12 to 14 hours and the timing of sessions varies from mornings, evenings, and/or weekends.

Participants of the program are required to deliver a presentation about the course they took to their community networks which can include their family and friends. Upon completion of the sessions and community presentations, participants receive certificates at our Achievement Celebration. Our Achievement Celebration this year was held at the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre. Over 80 community

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members, staff and volunteers who attended had the opportunity to listen to guest speakers, testimoni-als, and watch both a dance performance and a theatre performance presented by MEHAR on Women & Depression.

If you are interested in learning more about the courses please contact the project coordinator Linda Le Pera at 905-270-1829 or linda@miag.ca

Our Mental Health & Wellbeing is important so “Let’s Keep Talking about our Mental Health”.

Testimonial

“The seniors and mental health training program helped me to understand that I'm not alone; there are lots of people are suffering out there. I felt very welcomed and gained new knowledge and how to use it effectively. We all participated as a team and helped each other every which way we can. I also like to acknowledge your leadership and guidance. You were always making sure that no one is left unattended or lost in the crowd. You knew our individual needs and you customized the program such a way that all of us are benefited from this program. I appreciated all of the guest speakers’ speech and advice. Please keep up the good work. We need you very much. A big Thank you for everything you have done for us.”

Participant - S.D.

Total of 30 workshops were delivered during the last fiscal year.

Over 100 counselling sessions took place in the past year.

Participant’s awareness of mental health and mental illness increased by 95%

Clients well-being and social competence increased by 77%

2. Counseling Services

MIAG continues to offer counselling services for individuals, couples, and families. We strive to provide counselling services from qualified counselors to our diverse community who seek help for a broad

range of issues which include family relationships and mental health.

In the past fiscal year we have provided over 100 sessions to community members. The client centred approach focusses on the individual needs of the clients. Community members are encouraged to call and book an appointment where they meet with the counsellor to discuss and assess their needs and provide services to clients as required.

To book an appointment or for more information clients can call the direct intake line at 905-270-5865.

This project is funded by the United Way Greater Toronto.

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Senior’s Healthy Kitchen

This project actively involved seniors from different ethno-cultural communities in both program plan-ning and delivery by sharing their own expertise and knowledge of their own cultures’ vegetables,

fruit, herbs, and seeds as well as cultural recipes. Seniors participated in food demonstrations on how to prepare and cook the food in a healthy fashion.

The project included nutritional awareness building workshops that were delivered by knowledge-able facilitators. It covered related topics such as reading food labels, food safety and food handling, and controlling some common chronic diseases by healthy eating. Seniors were interactively involved by run-ning some of the sessions and by participating in an open dialogue.

This project is comprised of five rounds of eight sessions in each. There was a yoga session in between activities as well as short stretching exercises and mindfulness sessions. More than 150 seniors within Peel were actively involved. It created a platform for seniors who discussed their culturally diverse food spices and recipes. The healthy seniors’ recipes were compiled in a resource booklet that was distributed to all seniors. It included food nutri-tional information as well. Seniors participants highly enjoyed all activities. It was observed that seniors

increased their social network and volunteerism by engaging with other participants and started join-ing other community events and groups.

This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada - New Horizons for Seniors Program.

Participants’ Testimonial

“This program was fun, organized and enjoyable. We made new friends, and learned along the way. Seniors need programs like this to learn about the food of different cultures.”

“I would like everyone to know that Seniors’ Healthy Kitchen has helped me to get back in life. I was able to con-nect with the members well. I also learned that cooking doesn’t have to be a complicated process. We learned from a Dietitian about different kinds of food and nutrition. We were also introduced to Yoga sessions on a regular basis. The program was well organized and administered. Hats off!”

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Dazzling Seniors

Dazzling Seniors is a two year project that involves ethno-cultural seniors in an active living and physi-cal awareness program. It offers indoor and outdoor active living sessions such as Yoga, Line Dancing

and Nordic Poll Walking to seniors in four different geographic locations such as: MIAG in Mississauga, Punjabi Community Health Services in Malton & Brampton, and at the Rexdale Women's Centre in Etobicoke.

In the past fiscal year, we conducted three programs of ten sessions in each. In each program we run four sessions of Nordic Pole Walking, three sessions of Yoga, and three sessions of Line Dancing. Four more programs will be organized in the second fiscal year.

In general 110 seniors were involved in the project. They enjoyed being active by practicing new movements whilst social group setting.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Based on post program survey 91% of the participants reported that the program helped them to learn about living a healthy lifestyle, 91% informed that it helped them to feel more confident, and 82% reported that it helped them to develop new social supports and network.

Testimonial

"It was my first experience with yoga. Really it was a wonderful relaxing session- friendly environment- one family- the instructor was excellent. I enjoyed it very much and I was away from stress. It was very helpful for my backache and muscle spasm as well. It was a new amazing exercise for me. I really appreciate it and I am thankful to MIAG for running this program."

Participant - Dr. Saleema Mohammed

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M I A G C l i e n t e l e 2 0 1 8 - 2 0 1 9

During the past year, MIAG has provided services to 4650 people. Out of this, there were 52% Women, 16% Men, 17% Seniors, 6% Children & Youth, 5% Students and Volunteers and 4% Service Providers

52%

16%

17%

6% 5% 4%

MIAG Clientele 2018 - 2019

Women Men Seniors

Children/Youth Students & Volunteers Service providers

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Archana Medhekar Law Firm

Catholic Family Services Peel-Dufferin

Centre for Education & Training

Ecosource, Growing a Green Community

Family Education Centre

Indus Community Services

Interim Place

Ismaili Jamatkhana Brampton

JobStart

Mississauga Food Bank

Next-Steps Employment Centre

Ontario Network for Elder Abuse Prevention

Peel Children’s Centre

Peel District School Board

Polycultural Immigration and Community Services

Rapport Youth and Family Services

Rexdale Women’s Centre

Seniors Tamil Society of Peel

Sheridan College

Trios College

Zoomers Association Trinidad & Tobago in Canada

MIAG is thankful for the in-kind contributions of the following:

MIAG gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the following:

Our Funders and Supporters

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Contact MIAG:3034 Palstan Road, Suite # M3

Mississauga, ON L4Y 2Z6Tel: (905) 270-6252Fax: (905) 270-6263

E-mail: info@miag.caWebsite: www.miag.ca

facebook.com/MIAGCentretwitter.com/MIAGCENTRE