FAITH & WELCOMING COMMUNITIES
Forum Programme
October 30th, 2013
Memorial Community Hall, NYCC
Agenda
9:00-9:30
9:30-10:00
10:00-10:30
10:30-11:15
11:15-12:00
12:00-1:00
1:00-2:00
2:00-2:30
Registration & refreshments
Welcome
Poster presentations
Break-out session I.
Break-out session II.
Lunch, Music & Networking
Activity
Feedback & Next Steps
Wrap-up & Evaluation
Poster Presentations
Arts: Philip Ackerman
Since graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Philip Ackerman has worked extensively as an adult education
instructor in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Canada. More recently, Philip has graduated from the Social
Service Program at Seneca College, specializing in working with Immigrants and Refugees. For the past
few years, Philip has been committed to settlement work, assisting with workshops for the Canadian
Council for Refugees, volunteering in various agencies throughout the sector, and working on several
projects. Currently, Philip is working in Research and Resource Development at the FCJ Refugee
Centre, which involves fundraising and helping out with various programs including the Youth Network.
Project Summary:
The FCJ Refugee Centre Youth Network is a uniquely diverse group of immigrant, refugee and
precarious migrant youth that meet weekly to discuss issues affecting them, lend support and strategize
possible responses. A core element of this group is arts-based programming. This serves as an effective
way for a group that spans multiple identities to find commonalities while communicating difficult
experiences. The group has been involved in multiple arts projects, including a mural project for
precarious migrant youth, a short documentary on access to education, two short plays on antioppression, and various musical and spoken word performances.
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Poster Presentations continued
Food Security: The Rev. Helena-Rose Houldcroft
The Rev. Helena-Rose Houldcroft is an Anglican Priest working in an outreach ministry in Flemingdon
Park and area. Prior to coming to Toronto she served in Southern Saskatchewan for 25 years. Helena
also has a degree in Nursing and has worked extensively on issues of sexuality and Aboriginal and
First Nations issues. Helena has a passion for community based projects that build relationships and
respects people’s ability to empower their own lives and provide direction for their own community.
Project Summary:
Flemingdon Park Ministry is a community based ministry since the early 60’s. When the Food Bank
was in peril of closing a second time an historic collaboration occurred with four diverse Muslim
organizations and two Christian, including FPM. In order to move beyond the Food Bank a pilot project
around building local resident capacity to access healthy food began with the Health Unit, the City of
Toronto and FPM. That resulted in a three year Trillium Grant for the Food Access Project and joining
the Health Unit and FPM was the Community Food Bank and Daily Bread Food Bank.
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Poster Presentations continued
Employment – Irene Vaksman
Irene Vaksman – ISTEM (Immigrant Settlement, Training, Employment, Mentoring) Manager JVS Toronto.
Irene has a background in Education and HR with a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management and
many years of experience in adult education, ESL training and recruitment. Irene oversees Newcomer
Employment Services at the JVS North location that include programs such as Job Search Workshop and
Enhanced Language Training for Internationally Trained Professionals in different occupational fields. In
addition, Irene plays an active role in Newcomer Youth Integration initiatives, mentoring and community
development work.
Project Summary:
JVS Toronto and Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario established a formal partnership 3 years ago
aimed at assisting JRCC members with employment needs. While JRCC offers a wide range of services and
programs addressing religious, educational and Jewish traditional life cycle aspects of the Russian Jewish
Community in Toronto and throughout Ontario, the new collaboration with JVS allowed bringing the services
to a new more comprehensive level, thus enhancing reciprocal referrals. Through the JVS Toronto’s Jewish
Community Employment Program – EMET employment - the following employment-related services are
offered to JRCC members: employability assessments, resume and interview preparation and support, labour
market access and matching to positions through the EMET database, Second Career assessments and
consultations, employment counselling and job development. In addition, through this partnership project,
eligible JRCC members gain access and can benefit from a variety of employment-related programs and
services offered by JVS, such as Employment Ontario services, Career Exploration programs, Youth
Employment to name just a few. Based on Memorandum of Understanding developed by the two
organizations, a JVS – EMET staff person meets with JRCC members interested in employment support on
the JRCC premises every week. JRCC promotes the partnership to its members and schedules appointments
when necessary. Open communication is maintained between the two organizations and feedback from the
clients is received and taken into consideration.
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Poster Presentations continued
Mental Health: Michael AbdurRashid Taylor
Michael AbdurRashid Taylor has worked as a Mental Health Professional and Organizational
Development Leader for 15 years. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto - Rotman School of
Management’s Leadership Development Program and he holds a Master of Theological Studies degree
from the University of Toronto and he is Executive Director of Islamic Chaplaincy Services Canada.
Michael has multiple certifications and training in Crisis Intervention and Counselling, Anger
Management Facilitation, Restorative Justice, Alternatives to Violence training, and Mental Health and
Addictions. He is currently Secretary of the Canadian Council of Imams and his consultant work
engage individuals and groups around Diversity, Religious Accommodation, Counselling and Healing
Approaches. michael@rashidtaylor.com
Project Summary:
The objectives of the educational project was to: a) map delineation between spirituality & religion and
their significance in mental health care; b) help participants to identify strengths related to spirituality; c)
focus on the Ontario Common Assessment of Need (OCAN) as a tool to engage clients and service
providers on issues of spirituality. Michael was approached by an agency that realized the need to help
its staff understand the role of spirituality and religion in their work and with clients. As a result of the
project implementation, frontline staff became more familiar with the above stated issues, especially
when religion became a focus of clients’ mental health presentation. They became more comfortable
with raising issues of Spirituality and Religion with clients. The myths that religious people do not
“believe in” mental illness and that religion is anti-psychiatry were dispelled.
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Poster Presentations continued
Cultural Exchange: Daniela Boeri
Daniela Boeri is a Spanish speaking settlement worker at Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office (TNO).
She joined the TNO team this past summer 2013, after completing her Master of Social Work from
Wilfrid Laurier University. In addition to serving newcomers and refugees with settlement needs at
TNO, Daniela has joined the Interfaith Dialogue Group to engage with and increase awareness of
people of various faiths, religions, and culture. Daniela has 10 years of cumulative professional
experience gained locally and internationally within social service, community, educational, and
high-profile NGO environments.
Project Summary:
This initiative started as a small group of most Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office staff. The main
objective was to create opportunities for cultural and religious exchange among staff, and increase
awareness about own faith and cultural background. Later, the group invited faith-based
organizations to join the “inter-faith dialogue”. With the help of 15 placement students from
University of Toronto, the group developed a database of local faith organizations and conducted a
survey of 98 faith-based groups to better understand community issues from the faith perspective.
Since then, the group meets regularly to learn about various religions, cultures and traditions, to
exchange information about activities and events in various communities and to celebrate religious
holidays together in the form of seasonal festivals (spring and fall).
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