FCJ Refugee Centre Statement on International Women’s Day

For more than 30 years, the FCJ Refugee Centre has been commemorating the resiliency, bravery and strength of refugee and precarious migrant women on International Women’s Day. Moreover, on this day we remember our Centre’s founding which began by walking in solidarity with refugee and precarious migrant women. For the last 30 years, FCJ Refugee Centre has been a safe haven for women and their children.

As an organization we pause on this day to reflect on the steps and struggles made by all women in their fight for an equitable society. Furthermore, we reflect on the collective courage to denounce a Patriarchal society in which women were not, and in many places to this day are not recognized as persons. This is a day to mark the violations made on women’s rights in society, but also to commemorate the women who have been paving the road to emancipation. Additionally, on this day we honour refugee and precarious migrant women, who have made difficult journeys to a new country and who continue to overcome the barriers in building a new life in Canada. Although this is a day to celebrate all women, at FCJ Refugee Centre we also mark this as a day to continue raising awareness around the specific injustices faced by refugee and precarious migrant women.

Today, and every day, the FCJ Refugee Centre continues our call for action. On this International Women’s Day we call on all levels of government to acknowledge the valuable work conducted by refugee and precarious migrant women in Canada. We also call on the government to provide holistic and wrap around services to support refugee and precarious migrant women. Most importantly, we are making a call to the community to support and acknowledge the resiliency of refugee and precarious migrant women.

On this International Women’s Day, as refugee and precarious migrant women continue to break the bias of what it means to be a woman, we advocate that they are not left behind.

We are proud to announce that our executive director, Loly Rico, is one of the recipients of the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards 2022, in the category of Refugee Rights.

In a virtual event, the YWCA Toronto announced the names of eight women who will be recognized at the YWCA Toronto’s 41th Women of Distinction Awards Gala, next June.

This year, the recipients consists of Margaret Newall (President’s Award), Willa Black (Corporate Leadership), Asma Faizi (Professions), Toufah Jallow (Young Woman of Distinction), Deepa Mattoo (Advocacy & Women’s Rights), Cheryl Regehr (Education), Loly Rico (Refugee Rights) and Dr. Sharon Walmsley (Health).

About Loly Rico, The Women of Distinction Awards organizers say:

Loly Rico is a prominent advocate for refugee women in Toronto. After fleeing political oppression in El Salvador, Loly and her late partner founded what is now known as the FCJ Refugee Centre 31 years ago. Though she was originally trained as a physiotherapist, Loly’s personal migration experience exposed her to the vulnerabilities many refugee women and children face, and the urgent need for community programs to support healing and safety. Over the years, Loly and her partner expanded the Centre’s services, offering refugee women and families a variety of aids, including legal support, a primary health care clinic and support with social assistance. Loly was also fundamental in helping create an innovative program with York University that allows students without permanent status in Canada to enroll in post-secondary education without having to pay costly foreign student fees.

The Women of Distinction Awards is YWCA Toronto’s largest annual fundraising event. The proceeds from this event will make it possible for YWCA Toronto to provide essential programs that help women, girls and gender diverse people escape violence, access employment, move out of poverty and access safe, affordable housing.

Around 200 people, including adults and children, came on this February 4th to the 7th COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the FCJ Refugee Centre, to get their first, second, or booster dose.

The clinic was organized in coordination with the University Health Network (UHN) and the Women’s College Hospital (@WCHospital).

The Migrant Women’s Counter Human Trafficking Alliance would like to thank artist Carolina Gajardo for facilitating a wonderful and inspiring art session on our Meditative Art Virtual Workshop.

A few comments from the participants who joined us:

Thanks for the first session of Meditative art through FCJ last Tuesday, we really enjoyed it, it was beautiful, energetic, and peaceful.

Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us!

Carolina is a wonderful, warm, encouraging teacher and I was amazed at how much could be conveyed by her and absorbed by us during an online session. This was a really magical hour we spent together and I felt very unified with the group even though we were physically separated. I did not know how it would be possible to do art therapy over Zoom, yet this was a beautiful and deeply enriching session.

Thank you all for joining this session and creating such beautiful art!

The FCJ Refugee Centre is hosting a new COVID-19 vaccination clinic for residents of Toronto Without OHIP Card, on February 4th, from 1 PM to 5 PM.

• Children aged 5 to 11 (born 2019-2016) can receive their 1st or 2nd dose
• 1st and 2nd doses available
• Boosters for anyone 18+ years of age
• PFIZER will be given to anyone 29 years and younger
• MODERNA will be given to anyone 30+

To get assistance booking a vaccination appointment, please send an email to vaccine@fcjrefugeecentre.org including:

• Complete Name
• Local Phone Number
• Date of Birth
• Which dose you are getting (First / Second / Booster)

Or just fill out and submit the following form:

A message from Diana Gallego, Interim Director FCJ, Refugee Centre:

This year FCJ Refugee Centre has been celebrating a milestone of 30 years of continued work with refugees and precarious migrants.

2021 has been a challenging year; we experienced a great loss and many members of our community faced great challenges.

Our resilience resides on our purpose on walking shoulder to shoulder with our clients.

Thank you for trusting us with your migrant journey in Canada. Today more than ever we need to be a place of welcoming and open doors.

Wishing you and your loved ones happy holidays.

Great turn out at the Status For All rally organized by Migrant Rights Network, a national coalition of organizations working on migrant rights in Canada. The event is part of the current National Campaign to advocate for Full Status for all migrants in Canada.

FCJ Refugee Centre is proudly part of the organizing committee through the Migrant Rights Network.

Today, November 25th, marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Violence against women is any act of gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, which can severely impact a woman at all stages of her life.

According to the United Nations (2021), “violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today and remains largely unreported due to impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.”

Furthermore, 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most often by an intimate partner. However, less than 40 percent of women and girls who experience violence seek help (United Nations, 2021).

The theme this year is “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!,” in which orange symbolizes a brighter future free of violence against women and girls.

At FCJ Refugee Centre we mark this day as a day to raise awareness on violence against women and girls, and to honour all victims and survivors.

We encourage everyone to continue raising their voice because we all have a role to play in eliminating the existence of a culture that continues to perpetuate violence against women and girls. You can do so by speaking out, educating others, and most importantly supporting survivors in their journey to justice.

A woman’s place is everywhere, and in every space she has the right to feel safe and welcomed.

Our Fall 2021 Newsletter is ready! Check it out and find information about the Anti-Human Trafficking Forum and the Migrant Women’s Counter Human Trafficking Alliance, the new activities of the The FCJ Youth Network and the Youth Alliance, our music classes, the Uprooted U program, all the upcoming events, and much more.

Click here to access the document if you can’t see it in this page.

Thanks to Día de los Muertos Collective for include our beloved Co- Director Francisco Rico-Martínez in the beautiful altar at Union Station.

Created by the Día de los Muertos Collective, and coordinated by Jess De Vitt, Jesús Mora, and Luis Rojas, this community-based and participatory ofrenda, or altar, fosters a space for public mourning in the midst of a global pandemic.

Bearing witness to all of the injustices that have impacted various communities, this sculpture carves spaces for collective loss and care—where feelings of celebration, grief, anger, and reflection can co-exist in remembrance.

Beyond showcasing the tradition and art of the Day of the Dead, this altar weaves together the longstanding celebration hosted by the Día De Los Muertos Collective in Wychwood Barns for over 12 years, gathering community through ritual, performance, music, visual arts, vending, and food.

The Día de Los Muertos Collective is a non-profit that coordinates the efforts of communities in T’karonto to create a celebration that honors the dead, delights the living, promotes artistic creation, and fosters community development through tradition.

We invite you to visit the installation at Union Station:

• Oct 31, 2021 – Feb 20, 2022
• Collective Remembrance: El Duelo
• ArtworxTO Hub SOUTH | Union Station
• 61 Front St W, Toronto, ON

And in the following images you can see also the Día de Muertos Altar we had at the FCJ Refugee Centre:

There is a growing concern among community stakeholders, advocacy groups, service providers, and other community agencies that the ease of the new Canada Refugee Protection web portal can inadvertently enable clients to start an irrevocable immigration process that can jeopardize the wellbeing of clients and their families. When providing orientations regarding this portal please make sure clients are aware of the risks associated with this process.

The consequences of initiating a refugee claim through the new portal are the following:

• You are providing your contact information to Immigration Canada
• Your current immigration status (Visitor, Student, Worker) is modified to Refugee Claimant.
• If you fail to provide necessary documents, forms, or information on time your refugee claim will be considered withdrawn or abandoned and you will receive a deportation order.
• If you miss your refugee hearing dates and deadlines your refugee claim will be considered withdrawn/abandoned and you will receive a deportation order.
• If your claim receives a negative decision and fail to provide a notice of appeal on time your refugee claim will be considered withdrawn/abandoned and you will receive a deportation order.

Because of these risks, we advise that clients speak with our organization, other refugee organizations, or immigration lawyers before providing any of the their personal information to this client portal.

For 30 years, we at the FCJ Refugee Centre have been walking with uprooted people. We remain unwavering, and relentless in our commitment to walk with people who have faced and continue to experience exclusion, marginalization and oppression. Today and every day we stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities across this country.

Canada’s history begins with the colonization of Indigenous land, upon which we have built a foundation of false hopes and empty promises to all First Nations people.

While our country mourns together over the ongoing discoveries of the remains of Indigenous children on multiple sites of residential schools, we must not forget that anti-Indigenous racism and prejudice is not just in Canada’s past. It is very much a part of our society today. While this may be shocking to some, to far too many others it is a daily reminder of Canada’s gross mistreatment, abuse, and exploitation of Indigenous peoples, their land, and their communities.

We stand in grief and solidarity with Indigenous Peoples across Canada who were forcibly sent to residential schools. We stand with them, as they face the trauma caused by the church and the Canadian government alike, through residential schools, and many other forms of systematic and ongoing racism. We acknowledge the impact that colonialism, systemic racism, and violence have on members of this community. Although many in our community have been displaced by similar forces of racism, neocolonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, the rise of fascist movements, and unfettered commercial exploitation in our countries of origin, we recognize that our organization is not free of racism, and pledge to take an active part in decolonization and reconciliation.

We recognize how we have profited from Canada’s colonialism, and we at the FCJ Refugee Centre would like to acknowledge the land on which its establishment is housed, and where staff, volunteers and members alike gather. This land is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations.

We urge the Canadian government to continue to investigate all 130+ residential school burial sites and bring justice to the families. Our elected officials must work with Indigenous leaders, allow room for self-autonomy and must always prioritize the best interest of indigenous children and their communities. As a community we must also educate ourselves with the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in order to create change and work with indigenous communities.

This time demands from us thoughtful consideration of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Report. We must demand action from our elected officials.

We must demand that all children are taught the true history of the land upon which we live.

We commit ourselves to participate in active reflection, and reconciliation of the true and terrible foundation upon which Canada was built.

On stolen land.

With stolen sons and daughters.

As we approach the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation we commit unwavering support and solidarity. Together we will reflect. We will continue to learn. And we will teach our sons and daughters the truth of our history, so it shall never be repeated again.

We honour the victims, survivors, and all families impacted by the trauma inflicted upon generations of Indigenous communities through action, not simply words.

Please join us, and join the calls to action.

The Migrant Women’s Counter Human Trafficking Alliance is a regional project that aims to enhance capacity and knowledge regarding the specific barriers and challenges presented in international cases where women have been victimized and marginalized by Human Trafficking.

At FCJ Refugee Centre we are committed to approaching women through a peer led model that will provide them with holistic information and access to wrap around services and support.

The goal of our weekly sessions will be for participants to engage in community building and social connection. Sessions will provide a safe space and tight knit community for migrant women. This will allow the opportunity to form friendships, encourage healing, build awareness and promote resilience.

Weekly sessions will include a number of planned workshops such as: utilizing art therapy to deal with anxiety, self-care tips, how to protect your mental wellbeing and group therapy sessions.

The sessions are starting on October 2021, please contact Isabella Eldeib at isabella.eldeib@fcjrefugeecentre.org for further information.