Category: News and Events

News and Events

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

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“We are very grateful to all our supporters for helping us to keep walking with refugees and other precarious populations during 2018. Thanks to you we were able to provide information for refugee claimants and for people who need support in regards to their immigration status and how they can further their situation in Canada.

    Access to Education was one of the main achievements for us. We were able to send 17 youth with precarious immigration status to post-secondary education. In general the FCJ Youth Network and the Access to Education team have had an exceptional year, and look forward to the new projects on 2019.

The increase in the number of people arriving in Toronto continued to impact FCJ Refugee Centre and the City in general. The pressures on the City’s emergency shelter system included an increased number of refugee claimants needing shelter during 2018.We continued working with the Refugee Houses, the City of Toronto,  refugees and migrants to find shelter. Also we partnered with St. Clair Multi-Faith Affordable Housing, we were able to secure funding for a housing worker and a housing allowance. We were able to accommodate five families, one of which was a group of five young siblings from Somalia. In our own houses we managed to shelter 50 women and 6 children in  2018. The majority of them were from Uganda, Nigeria, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico, Cuba, Croatia, and Egypt.

Another large program that we keep running is the Primary Care Clinic, serving people who don’t have access to healthcare. We had a psychiatrist  assisting people with mental health issues. The psychiatrist was also providing refugee claimants with psychological reports and assessments for their claim.

    Public education and the accessibility of information is a key part of the services we provide. The programs included workshops about human trafficking given in rural areas. FCJ has expanded the anti-human trafficking network, and one of our most successful services was the Migrant Worker’s Mobile program. We have a phone number so migrant workers can communicate and contact us directly. We have been helping people mostly who are victims of labour trafficking, and we do this through trainings, outreach, and working with a network of other organizations throughout Ontario.”

Find out more about the co-directors’ reflections on the services and programs implemented by FCJ Refugee Centre during 2018 : click here

Annual Report 2018

Welcome Home: “Which home? Just a place to sleep?”

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Displaced persons and precarious migrants are particularly vulnerable to a range of other human rights violations that can then impact their right to housing. They are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, racism and xenophobia, which can further interfere with their ability to secure sustainable and adequate living conditions. People who have been forcibly displaced will often have suffered trauma during their journey, and will have lost familiar coping strategies and support mechanisms. Often unable in practice or because of their legal status to rent adequate accommodation, many are forced to live in overcrowded and insecure conditions. These challenges are compounded by Toronto’s ongoing housing crisis, which is a long-standing problem.

Many of our clients facing this situation came to FCJ Refugee Centre looking for support. The following   report  shares our findings on the challenges that refugee claimants and precarious migrants face in finding a place to stay in the city, whether that is a temporary shelter or more permanent housing through the rental market. We are grateful to those who shared their stories with us. We wanted to bring attention to these issues as these vulnerabilities are not given the due attention they deserve, either in the media or in government policies.

To read the report click here :

 

 

 

Art Show was a great success!!!

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We had an amazing evening. Thank you to all our supporters!!

Andromeda Diaz
Carlos delgado
John Gross
Mao Correa
Jack Martin
Nawaaz Makhani
Sandra Gonzales
Sandra Patricia Loboa
Youth in Motion
Helena
Mariana Bolanos
Paula Pinheiro
FCJ Youth Network
FCJ WOmen’s Jewellery Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAVE THE DATE! April 26

We are organizing an evening of visual art, music and stories in celebration of Refugee Rights Month. Through this event we are going to honour the contributions made by refugees, inviting them to showcase their works and artistic talents. Also it will be an opportunity to raise funds in support of the work that the FCJ Refugee Centre does.

For 28 years the FCJ Refugee Centre has been championing the rights and protection of refugees, immigrants and precarious migrant populations. With a client-centered, community-driven approach we provide holistic services to vulnerable migrants.

Please find the details below:
Date:               April 26th, 2019
Venue:            Matter Gallery
Address:          344 Westmoreland Ave N #104a, Toronto, ON M6H 3A7
Time:               From 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

RSVP: https://artshow.eventbrite.ca

For more information please contact Marianna Tzabiras, Research and Resource Development by email mariannatz@fcjrefugeecentre.org

 

“The tour was very revealing and informative”

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Thank you to the Ready Tour participants  for  taking   the time to share your experience at the Ready Tour:

READY TOUR TESTIMONY

Ready Tour was a beautiful and informative experience that I will forever pass down to any refugee coming into Canada.

I heard about it for the first time from my Counselor at the Shelter at a point of exit when I secured an apartment. I decided to give it a shot. I sent a mail requesting for ‘Ready Tour’ to FCJ and I was scheduled for the tour. I got there only to find out that I wasn’t the only one that got the appointment.

The tour was very revealing and informative. It is designed to help refugees with their coming up hearing, to build up a little confidence in them and to reduce the rate of ‘Appeal’ after the hearing.

The Tour like I said was revealing because it revealed that the hearing for the claimants is not a criminal case and it’s just going to be the claimant, the Judge and the claimant’s lawyer.

Well organized and there was room for all to ask questions and interpreters were also available to those that needed it. At the end of the session, I had a sense of what my hearing day is going to look like, who to expect on that day and how to prepare myself.

My Hearing went well and coincidentally, I had mine at the same room where the tour was actually conducted but the truth is I never had scold feet all through the Hearing and this I believe was because of the Readiness I had with FCJ (Ready Tour).

I must confess the team at FCJ are really fantastic. So grateful that I met them and I encouraged immigrants to seek to know the ‘How to’ once they arrive into Canada and FCJ is one of the places to visit for knowledge.

Thanks all!
Anonymous

You are welcome to attend the Ready Tour. For more information and registration please click  here:

https://www.fcjrefugeecentre.org/ready-tour-registration/

The Ready Tour is a free program for refugee claimants  that allow them to visit an actual hearing room and learn about how to be ready for their refugee hearing.

 

 

Ontario’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day – February 22nd 2019

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Press Release

Ontario’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day – February 22nd 2019

A Human Rights Based Approach to End Human Trafficking – Conversation and Press Conference

Organized by the Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network (TCHTN)

10 AM to 12 PM

At The Mary Ward Centre: 70 St. Mary Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 1J3

Multiple forms of domestic and international human trafficking exist in Ontario, including sex and labour trafficking.  While anyone can be affected by human trafficking, poverty, gender inequality and hyper sexualisation of women and girls, racism, colonialism and precarious immigration status are root causes. These and other factors, create greater vulnerability to human trafficking across Ontario

To read the complete Press Release click here : http://www.fcjrefugeecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Press-Release-Human-Trafficking-Awareness-Day-Feb22-2019.pdf

Please RSVP here: https://humantraffickingawarenessday.eventbrite.ca/

If you have questions please contact:
Luis Mata, Anti-Human Trafficking coordinator at FCJ Refugee Centre

Lmata@fcjrefugeecentre.org

416-4699754 ext. 242

 

Get involved with the CCR Newcomer Youth Civic Engagement Project

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The FCJ Refugee Centre Youth Network would like to invite your Youth Group to collaborate and participate at the CCR Newcomer Youth Civic Engagement Project.

The aim of the project is to activate local CCR Youth Network Branches where newcomer youth, (not born in Canada) between 16 and 25 years old,  develop their leadership skills and  motivate other newcomer youth to get involved and together strategize around issues that newcomer youth are facing. Branches also facilitate youth engagement with organizations that serve newcomer youth in order to make their services more engaging and relevant to newcomer youth.

There will be three meetings the first meeting on February 16 th from 12:00 to 6:00 pm at 1558 Bloor St W, will be a consultation with youth on the Ideal Journey to Canada. This session will consult youth on what is their vision for the experience of newcomer youth who arrive in Canada and their vision for Youth Engagement.

On February 26 th at 1:00 pm, 208 Oakwood Avenue will organize a meeting with organizations that serve newcomer youth, youth will present their findings. Together youth and organizations will discuss actions they can take to support youth engagement and improve the journey to Canada for newcomer youth, and after that we will share all the finding. It will be an excellent asset if your Organization and especial the Youth group can participate with us.

For more information contact:

Sara Hummad
Youth Worker
sara.hummad@fcjrefugeecentre.org
416 469 9754 ext 228

 

Helping your clients with their refugee appeal process

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The RAD information sessions  will provide front line workers and  refugee appellants  a FREE opportunity to be better prepared for the presentation of their appeal before the RAD.

Workers and  Rejected refugees will learn the steps to follow and how to document your appeal before the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).

Analysts from Refugee Appeal Division, RAD, will talk about submissions of  documents, what happen after the refugee hearing, when the RPD process finish, when the RAD process begins and deadlines.

Next session March 1st, 2019 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Confirm your interest in attending the next session with  Carolina Teves  cteves@fcjrefugeecentre.org

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