How to Help Christie this Holiday Season
Christie Refugee Welcome Centre is starting to collect donations for the holiday season and there are a variety of ways you can help us.
Employment Elevates Lives
Megan Wilkinson, Elevate’s Employment Settlement Worker Our new "Elevate" program addresses the pivotal role employment plays within the settlement process for refugees. Christie launched the Elevate program this year with a 3-year Grow Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to provide employment and settlement services to refugee claimants. [...]
Exciting News – A Launch and a Ride
ELEVATE Program Launch Supports Refugees Seeking Employment We are so proud and excited to share with you the new program we launched this spring – Elevate! Refugee Employment Services (Elevate). This program was designed to provide settlement and employment services to refugee claimants, helping them find and keep employment. Brought to life by [...]
We’ve Been Apart, Now Let’s Come Together
The pandemic kept us apart, but now we can come together again for a common cause! This will be our eighth year participating in the Ride for Refuge, taking place on Saturday October 2, 2021. (And this year, you don’t need to ride or walk . . . you can do whatever [...]
Mama Robertina’s Journey: From Client to the Heart of Christie’s Kitchen
Mama Robertina’s Journey: From Client to the Heart of Christie’s Kitchen Robertina and her family were the very first residents to stay at what was then World Vision Reception Centre, in 1989. Last month we celebrated her incredible legacy, as she retired after nearly 30 years of serving. Strong, fearless [...]
Refugee Spotlight Story – Introducing Eleni
Growing up at Christie Free from Fear "I think I am much more grown up now than before I left Mexico. Before I left, I was so shy.” A poised young woman sits before me, polished and articulate. She explains that what she enjoyed most about her recent work placement [...]
Refugee Spotlight Story: Introducing Sandra
Sandra Gonzalez is the new Shelter Manager at Christie Refugee Welcome Centre. She brings a wealth of experience to the role; both as a refugee, client of Christie, and shelter employee. We asked Sandra to tell us more about herself and are delighted to be able to 'introduce' her to [...]
June is World Refugee Awareness Month
and we have a lot to celebrate! Spring has Sprung and our Garden is Sprouting! Last year we launched our first community garden and we were so excited to see some of the plants have returned on their own. Carol has already been busy helping our children and families learn [...]
A Glimpse Into our 2020 Annual Report
This year our community rallied together to support Christie and our families in some pretty incredible ways! Our year started with the same shock as everyone else: "It was a Wednesday in March 2020 when we realized that everything we do at Christie had to change because a new unknown [...]
Introducing the Centre for Refugee Children
This is Steve Meagher and this is how you'll usually find him, doing whatever it takes to serve our clients. Steve is leaving his position as Shelter Manager at Christie to launch an exciting pilot project: The Centre for Refugee Children. We sat down with Steve so he could tell you more about this ground-breaking [...]