Message From Executive Director
Working with South Asians – Breaking Barriers – June 16 update
CASSA AGM
Equity Council Meeting
Communities in Action workshops
Upcoming Events of CASSA and other agencies
Special Announcements
Membership

Dear friends and supporters of CASSA:

Firstly, I would like to thank all those who attended our AGM and made it a great evening. We have now successfully completed first half of 2009. Moving forward, we have many exciting project and campaigns and we hope many of you will join in our efforts to create an economically and socially just Ontario. I would like thank and welcome the new members of CASSA: Markham Arts Council, Canadian Multicultural Links Association, Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, South Asian Heart Health Group, Canadian Intercultural Association of Students, Social planning Network of Ontario and Evergreen Hospice. These members joined CASSA in the last three weeks. CASSA is looking for 20 South Asian youth volunteers (ages 16 – 30) to head our South Asian Youth Advisory Committee which had the involvement of over 200 youth in the past year and a half. CASSA’s training program for frontline workers (see below for details) is unique and first of its kind, so we hope many of you will take advantage of this opportunity for not only your professional development but also for supporting your peers in the field. We, at CASSA, are looking forward to a very exciting and productive second half of 2009. We thank you for your continued support and invite those of you who haven’t joined us yet, to join us as a member, volunteer, donor and/or a supporter.

Sincerely,

Neethan Shan
Executive Director

Working with South Asians – Breaking Barriers - On Tuesday, June 16, 2009 over forty frontline workers attended a consultation session to design a training program that would work to address challenges faced by frontline workers when providing services to South Asian communities. Many important topics came up out of this meeting including issues around addressing health inequities, addressing barriers to legal rights and justice as well as increasing effective community engagement. The collaborative process of determining a course that will be truly representative of the needs of frontline workers working with South Asians has been very effective in determining the course structure. The course content of this training program will be covered in six training sessions to be held in next six months.

For more information on the upcoming sessions, please visit “Upcoming events of CASSA” section of this newsletter.

Annual General Meeting of CASSA – The AGM of CASSA took place on June 17 at the Friends House. The meeting was well attended by its member organizations, other non profit organizations and prominent individuals from the South Asian communities. A brief update was given on CASSA’s activities in 2008 as well as the strategic goals and directions for 2010. Contributions of the outgoing Chair of CASSA Board, Rishika Williams, were acknowledged by the Executive Director, Neethan Shan. Mya Vijendran and Maya Roy were welcomed in the Board as members. The panel discussion on “Organizing our Communities for Social Change’ was a very engaging one with people actively participating with their views and queries. The meeting was adjourned and winded up with networking and a delicious South Asian dinner.

Equity Council Meeting – June 25th: The third meeting of the Equity Council of York Region took place on June 25th. . The council discussed how to best follow up on the recommendations made at the May 9 Equity Forum, “Putting Equity on the Agenda-ARE WE BEING HEARD?” The next steps for the council include developing its terms of reference, expanding and diversifying membership beyond the South Asian communities and releasing a report of the community concerns and recommendations from the Putting Equity on the Agenda Campaign. The next meeting of the Equity Council will be held Thursday July 23 from 6:30-8:30 pm at 4261 Highway 7.

Please contact Anita at anita@cassa.on.ca for more information or to get involved.

Communities in Action workshops – June 16, 20: The Communities in Action project is a TCHC - CASSA partnership project geared towards the Bengali and Tamil communities with a goal to build capacity within these communities in TCHC, empower them to self advocate, campaign and become community leaders to create and influence positive change. Workshops were conducted on June 16 and June 20th for Tamil Seniors and Bengali women respectively to gear them to advocate for solutions to the issues indentified by these communities during the information sessions conducted in May. Campaigns will be launched in July to tackle issues around safety and security and to integrate skill development programs into the communities.

Working with South Asians – Breaking Barriers – July 14: As a part of the six session long training program for frontline workers, the 1st session will be held on July 14 at North York Central Library from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. To fill the registration form, please click here. This form must be received by CASSA no later than Monday, July 6, 2009 by 5:30pm.
For more information, please contact Loveleen Kang at loveleen@cassa.on.ca

Research Study: Constructing Domestic Violence from Stories of Canadian South Asian Survivors – July 2: The study seeks to capture and give voice to South Asian women who are survivors of violence in Canada. Click here to view the focus group invitation. For further information and to rsvp, please contact, Ritu Chokshi at ritu.chokshi@ryerson.ca

Public Legal Education Seminar – July 3: SALCO and AYCE are hosting a Public Legal Education Seminar on July 3rd to educate people about handling of legal issues on topics like Immigration, human rights, Social Assistance/Ontario Disability Program, Criminal injuries Compensation, Old Age Security and CPP. Click here to view the flyer. For more information, please contact Mathi Rajsekhary at mrajakesary@ayce.on.ca.

Community Rally – July 5: In support of justice for live-in caregivers and other temporary foreign workers, the Caregivers Action Centre, Good Jobs for All Coalition, Workers Action Centre and a number of organizations are organizing a Community Rally On July 5 at 1 p.m. at Wellesley St. E & Ontario St. For more information, please call the Caregivers Action Centre at 416 361 6319.

Vasantham – AGM on July 7th – Vasantham will be holding its 10th AGM on July 7th at 50 Tuxedo Court, Scarborough. The topic for Panel discussion is Tamils’ Mental Health Concern in Canada. For more information contact at 416 – 324-4185 or vasantham@sherbourne.on.ca

CENSUS 2009: A New Reality. Empowerment and Leadership of South Asian Women - August 7-9 2009: This conference is being hosted by South Asian Women’s Centre (SAWC) in collaboration with the Division of Continuing Education and Office of University Events and Community Relations at York University (UCER).This conference will provide South Asian Women across the GTA with a way to participate, share experiences, connect, and celebrate their contributions as newcomers to Canada. For mo information, please click here.

South Asian Youth Advisory Committee (SAYAC): SAYAC is looking for 20 dedicated youth members ages 16-30 to become the official Steering Committee Members for the term July 2009-May 2010. SAYAC Members are passionate South Asian youth who wish to actively participate in creating a socially and economically just Canada. Members will work collaboratively towards creating the 3rd Annual Fires of Resistance: Youth Igniting Action conference held every May. This also means commitment to attend the planning meetings once a month and more frequent scheduled meetings closer to May 2010. Click here to visit the SAYAC page on CASSA website.
The members will be will be given travel reimbursement for attending the meetings as well as a Certificate of Appreciation and Letter of Recommendation for their efforts at the end of the Member term (May 2010).

If interested, please send in your resume at hr@cassa.on.ca with the subject title “SAYAC Membership Application” by Friday July 10, 2009.

If you are interested in volunteering, partnering or becoming a member, please email Farhat at farhat@cassa.on.ca. Click here for more information about volunteering with CASSA. Click here to fill out a volunteer application form.

You or your organization can also become a member of CASSA, if you wish to support our mission/mandate. Please visit our website www.cassa.on.ca for details on our mission, vision, values and strategic priorities. The members will receive a regular   update on various happenings in the social services/social justice field in Ontario's South Asian communities.

Annual Membership fee is only $10 for individuals and $20 for organizations. Joining as a member will also keep you informed of opportunities about jobs, volunteering and community events. Click here for more information about becoming a member of CASSA and its benefits.

Subscription Info

To unsubscribe from this mailing, please click here.
If you know someone else that might wish to subscribe to our mailing please click here.
To report any problems with links please click here.

Be sure to visit us on the web at www.cassa.on.ca where you’ll find plenty of up to date information on CASSA weekly activities. 

Thank you for your support and for sharing this information with others!