Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative
9538 107 Ave NW # 114 T5H 0T7 Edmonton, AB, Canada

From all of us, have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season. All the very best in the coming year!

IMPORTANT NEWS MCHB CO-OP COVID-19 STATEMENT With the recent announcement that the Alberta government is declaring a state of public health emergency and putting aggressive measures in place to protect the health system and reduce the rising spread of COVID-19 cases, we have updated our MCHB protocols. Effective immediately, we will:... - suspend face-to-face parenting, youth and senior group activities, and programming -have Broker colleagues work from home by utilizing alternate communication strategy to deliver services and support to our families such as phone, email, text messaging, WeChat, Whatsapp, Google hangouts, teleconferences, skype or zoom. -continue to implement strict protocols and procedures in line with the recommendations from Alberta Health Services. Our office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until December 23, 2020 but staff will not be regularly in the building. No in-person visits are permitted at this time. The building is closed December 24, 2020 January 4, 2021 Staff will take every step possible to provide brokering services while adhering to the current health and safety protocols. We understand that this situation may be causing concern to families and colleagues so we will continue to re-evaluate and re-assess the situation. Please feel free to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to support you, your families, and your communities. We will get through this safely together, and our strength, our partnerships, and our relationships will help us thrive and stay strong during this challenging time.

Thank you to everyone who continues to take steps to keep everyone safe. We will get through this together. Stay safe. #yeg

Last month, we heard about a local farmer who did not have time to harvest all of his beets and carrots, and Barb and her kids came to the rescue! They harveste...d 200 lbs, which they dropped off at Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing community. Thank you to our volunteers, food donors, and service agencies for making food rescue possible. See more

CONGRATULATIONS to Funke Olokude, Intercultural Family Resource Network Hub Coordinator, Edmonton Region, with the Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative! She has been awarded the title of one of the Top 40 Under 40! https://edifyedmonton.com/people/top-40/2020/funke-olokude/

This is a wonderful story about our Grocery Run program! Please share this story to let more people know about how they can help! https://www.ecfoundation.org/b/a-better-end-to-best-before/

MCHB is currently seeking a dynamic EAL instructor to teach in an innovative English for Employment program using a blended delivery model which is primarily in-person but has one day per week for on-line learning. This specialized program is designed for low level and/or literacy learners who face multiple barriers to employment. Title: English as an Additional Language (EAL) Instructor Salary: Hourly; $35/hr; 20 hrs/week; January 4 March 31, 2021... Who are you? Working as an EAL Instructor in a multidimensional English for Employment program is both challenging and rewarding work. It requires a warm heart, a clear mind, and a deep willingness to learn not just new skills, but about yourself and others. To be able to flourish in the work, you will need to be able to tolerate uncertainty, ambiguity, and what might feel like chaos at times. These are some of the qualities you need to have: Commitment to the mission, vision, values of MCHB Excellent facilitation skills and experience in participatory educational approaches Sensitivity to the migration and pre-migration realities of newcomers Excellent oral and written communication skills Understanding of the Canadian Language Benchmarks Experience with English in the workplace, Essential Skills, and workplace culture Strong organizational and problem-solving skills and high degree of initiative and resourcefulness Ability to build effective relationships with people NOTE: preference will be given to individuals with ATESL or TESL Canada certification, or equivalent. What will you do? Responsibilities include: Provide instruction for a group of 10 learners for a 12-week English for Employment program Conduct individual and classroom needs assessments Employ a task-based methodology in the classroom Develop EAL lessons and themes that relate to the hospitality and food industry Deliver lessons and activities that respond to identified student needs, improve English language skills, develop workplace competencies, and build confidence within immigrant and refugee language learners Coordinate filed trips and guest speakers Track attendance, monitor learner progress, and provide narrative and statistical reports. Participate in the life of the cooperative by attending monthly meetings, working with other Brokers as a valued team member, and growing professionally with the learning opportunities that will be provided. What will we do for you? A few of the most common things that people who work for MCHB say is that they feel accepted for who they are, that they feel trusted and able to find their own way to work creatively and that they love the sense of personal growth in the work. We actively foster a work environment that is caring, egalitarian in tone, and respectful of your creative energy. We also believe in on-going professional development and gathering in ways that foster support and learning from each other.

IMPORTANT NEWS - UPDATED MCHB CO-OP COVID-19 STATEMENT Following announcement by the W.H.O. officially declaring COVID-19 a Pandemic, MCHB Co-op has taken action consistent with guidance from Health Canada and Alberta Health, as well as authorities. * Anyone returning from international travel stays home for 2 weeks... * Anyone with any symptoms of any cold/flu stays home for 2 weeks We will: * Pause face-to-face parenting, youth and senior group activities and programming * Have Broker colleagues work from home by utilize alternate communication strategy to deliver services and support to our families such as phone, email, text messaging, wechat, whatsapp, Google hangouts, teleconferences, skype or zoom. * MCHB Co-op has developed an interim policy, protocol and training to support Broker colleagues to pursue in-person interaction with the parents, youth and seniors after a vigorous process of safety assessment and discernment informed by Occupation Health & Safety Guidelines and the most up-to-date guidance from Alberta Health Services. * Minimal number of meetings at the office as Edmonton Intercultural Centre is open with limited hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.. Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Most other meetings will be conducted virtually by phone, Skype, Zoom, etc. * Recommend clients to call in advance of visiting or walking into our locations. Our office will therefore operating with a minimal number of staff from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until further notice. Staff will take every step possible to provide brokering services in adhering to the health and safety protocol. In addition, we are developing relevant guidelines and training for Brokers to do safety assessment and decrement regarding in-person group activities and events in the building or in the green space around the building. More details will be available upon the completion of such protocol and training. We will be cancelling keyfob access to the building to control entry. All staff need to ring the bell and wait to be let in to the building. We urge all Executive Directors to encourage their staff to work from home. Please understand that this whole situation is a fluid one, and we need to be prepared for even more drastic measures like shutting down the building completely. We understand that this situation may be causing concern to families and colleagues. We will continue to re-evaluate and re-assess the situation. The Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women has sent out updated information in English, and translated information in 3 language (2 versions of Chinese). We encourage you to review this information and share it with your friends and family. English version: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm You may also find the most up to date information on COVID-19 at https://www.alberta.ca/covid19

Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperatives Grocery Run program is a stopgap measure to meet some same-day food emergency needs of families arriving and resettli...ng as newcomers and refugees. Initially the Grocery Run program served 76 families. Over time, that number rose to 100. But as COVID-19 hit, the number rocketed to 400 families on a weekly basis! Learn about the program and the great work they do:

Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative's Grocery Run program is a stopgap measure to meet some same-day food emergency needs of families arriving and resettli...ng as newcomers and refugees. Initially the Grocery Run program served 76 families. Over time, that number rose to 100. But as COVID-19 hit, the number rocketed to 400 families on a weekly basis! Learn about the program and the great work they do:

"River City Bridges is a 2020 video from the Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative in the culturally diverse "River City" of Edmonton, Alberta Canada. It provides an updated story of where this unique award-winning workers co-operative is at since the founding members came together in 1993 in relation to the health equity and social inclusion of cultural minorities in Edmonton. It highlights the essential practice of Multicultural Health Brokers in their roles as Cultura...l Brokers (relational bridges) and how this practice impacts those they serve and those they collaborate with. It ends with a call for action to everyone within the context of shared humanity (and interculturality) or social inclusion for all - the ultimate goal of MCHB Co-op. We wish to thank Edmonton Heritage Council, Alberta Community and Co-operative Association and Shawn Tse - videographer for their kind and gracious support in bringing this video from ideas into reality

Edmonton Intercultural Centre, where our office is located, has advised us that we must highly restrict access into the building. So we are working remotely from our homes with the exception, at this current time, of no more than 3 of us. Please do not come to our office. You can reach us through leaving us a message on our office number: (780) 423-1973 or sending us a message to our email address: [email protected]. We will try and get back to you within 24 hours. If situations changes, we will update you all through our website at www.mchb.org. Thank you

MCHB Co-op COVID-19 Statement Following announcement by the W.H.O. officially declaring COVID-19 a Pandemic, MCHB Co-op has taken action consistent with guidance from Health Canada and Alberta Health, as well as authorities. * Anyone returning from international travel stays home for 2 weeks.... * Anyone with any symptoms of any cold/flu stays home for 2 weeks We will: * Pause parenting, youth and senior group activities and programming * Have Broker colleagues work from home by utilize alternate communication strategy to deliver services and support to our families such as phone, email, text messaging, wechat, whatsapp, google hangouts, teleconferences, skype or zoom. * Minimax number of meetings at the office as Edmonton Intercultural Centre is open with limited hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Most other meetings will be conducted virtually by phone, Skype, Zoom, etc. * Recommend clients to call in advance of visiting or walking into our locations. Our office will therefore operating with a minimal number of staff from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until further notice. Staff will take every step possible to provide brokering services in adhering to the health and safety protocol. In addition all public and group events in the building are cancelled until at least April 30. We will be cancelling keyfob access to the building to control entry. All staff need to ring the bell and wait to be let in to the building. We urge all Executive Directors to encourage their staff to work from home. Please understand that this whole situation is a fluid one, and we need to be prepared for even more drastic measures like shutting down the building completely. We understand that this situation may be causing concern to families and colleagues. We will continue to re-evaluate and re-assess the situation. If you need to reach us phone (780) 423-1973 or email [email protected] The Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women has sent out updated information in English, and translated information in 3 language (2 versions of Chinese). We encourage you to review this information and share it with your friends and family. English version: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm You may also find the most up to date information on COVID-19 at https://www.alberta.ca/covid19

Now Hiring Part-Time Cultural Brokers Having strong 1st language skills and lived experience in your specific cultural community is important. This job posting is for part-time work on a case-by-case basis within specific cultural communities in Edmonton. http://mchb.org/career-opportunities/

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year from all of us at the Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative!

An interesting story indeed!

Looking Back at 2019: Did you know that in the spring of 2019 the University of Albertas Faculty of Extension held a fundraiser which raised enough money to purchase nearly 200 kg of dried pulses for us to distribute through the Grocery Run Program. Pulses are highly nutritious and protein-dense foods, making them a wonderful pairing to go with the fresh produce and bread that we receive each week. MCHB partnered with Blush Lane Organic Market to purchase lentils and chickpeas for the Grocery Run Program at a discounted price. If you want to learn more about our Grocery Run Program visit: http://mchb.org/grocery-run-program/

Looking Back at 2019: Did you know that in the spring of 2019 the University of Alberta's Faculty of Extension held a fundraiser which raised enough money to purchase nearly 200 kg of dried pulses for us to distribute through the Grocery Run Program. Pulses are highly nutritious and protein-dense foods, making them a wonderful pairing to go with the fresh produce and bread that we receive each week. MCHB partnered with Blush Lane Organic Market to purchase lentils and chickpeas for the Grocery Run Program at a discounted price. If you want to learn more about our Grocery Run Program visit: http://mchb.org/grocery-run-program/

A very interesting story on CBC!

From all of us, have a happy and safe long weekend ahead!

A very inspirational story!

Have a happy and safe Canada Day long weekend, everyone!

Did you know that MCHB represents 25 different cultural and linguistic communities in Edmonton, including the following: Afghani, Arabic-speaking, Bhutanese, Chinese, English-speaking African, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Filipino, Former Yugoslavian, French-Speaking African, Iraqi, Karen, Korean, Kurdish, Iraqi, Iranian, Nepalese, Oromo, Romanian, Russian, Spanish-speaking, Somali, South Asian, Sudanese, Turkish and Vietnamese. Learn more: http://mchb.org/about/

Multicultural Health Brokers Co-op has been nominated for an ROOPH Award. Homeward Trust Edmonton is proud to host the 14th Annual ROOPH Awards Luncheon on Thursday, March 14th. The ROOPH Awards - Recognizing Outstanding Organizations and People in Housing provides an opportunity to highlight Edmonton success stories within the housing sector and areas of related services. More information about the award and the event: https://bit.ly/2IPPM4P

Informative displays are now up in the Edmonton Tower downtown in support of the Edmontons Community Update on the Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness come take a look. #edmonton #endhomelessness #yeg #homelessness #itstartswithhome

Immigrant Youth and Mental Health Programs are available through MCHB here #Edmonton through www.mchb.org

From all of us, have a happy and healthy year ahead! Thank you for being part of our community!

Dont forget to visit the Just One World market on November 24 and 25th! Four of our women entrepreneurs will be selling at the market. Wed love to see you there!

Job Opportunity: Cultural Broker (Syrian Family Support Office)

Don't forget to visit the Just One World market on November 24 and 25th! Four of our women entrepreneurs will be selling at the market. We'd love to see you there!

This is a wonderful video!

Were so proud of Yvonne!

MCHB is asking Latino/Hispanic parents currently living in Edmonton urban area with children between 3 and 18 years old to participate in a research study conducted by a research team at the University of Alberta about family relationships and what Latino immigrant families in Canada do to teach their children about money management. This project is being led by Dr. Adam Galovan from the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. Multicultural Health Brokers ...Cooperative has been working together with the research team to make sure the study seeks to contribute to the well-being of the Latino community and the approach is appropriate for honoring the different backgrounds in this community. ____________________________________ Escribo para pedir tu apoyo participando en un estudio que un grupo de investigadores de la Universidad de Alberta está llevando a cabo para estudiar relaciones familiares y como las familias latinas inmigrantes en Canadá enseñamos nuestros hijos acerca de manejo del dinero. Creo que tu familia es precisa para este estudio porque están buscando padres latinos-hispanos que vivan en el área urbana de Edmonton y que tengan hijos entre 3 y 18 años. El líder del proyecto es el Dr. Adam Galovan del Departamento de Ecología Humana - Human Ecology More information: http://mchb.org/familias-fuertes-project/

Do you know what the Multicultural Health Brokers do here in Edmonton? Check out our webpage and get to know us! #YEG http://www.mchb.org

We're so proud of Yvonne!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend from all of us at MCHB!

The NEW FALL 2018 SCHEDULE IS HERE! Please Like and Share with all interested colleaguesThe NEW FALL 2018 SCHEDULE IS HERE! Please Like and Share with all interested colleagues

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE BIGGEST EVENT IN MCHB! Join us to learn more about building an intercultural society. The gathering is to making connections and the aim is making connections between newcomer youth and indigenous youth. #August17th #Togtherasone #Newcomersarelit #ourmauley

There is still time to sign up for this important workshop taking place in Edmonton! Please visit http://mchb.org/programs/cultural-competency/ for more information.

The 2018 Summer Intercultural Competency Workshop Schedule is out! Please take a look at the schedule. Next workshop is July 4th!

Meet one of our Facilitators: KARIN PRAVEETA LINSCHOTEN Karin is a world renowned therapist and speaker on Immigrant and Refugee mental health and trauma.... Karin will be presenting 2 workshops in July and August: -Pre-migration ,Adaptive behaviours and role changes in Refugee families JULY 11 and AUGUST 1 -Trauma and Vicarious Trauma and Strategies for working with Newcomers and other trauma affected families JULY 25 and AUGUST 15 Contact: [email protected] to register COST: $300, discount for groups of 8 or more from one organization

Registration deadline is May 18th for the "From Colonialism to Interculturalism: Shifting Dynamics of Power" workshop on May 23rd. http://mchb.org/programs/cultural-competency/

The deadline has been extended!! Details: https://www.facebook.com/mchb.ictp.9

Intercultural Competency Training Program 2018 Workshops. Deadline is today at noon for registrations! Our workshops range from half-day, to full-day and multiple series sessions that can be customized to suit your stated needs and goals. We build not just on awareness, but on deepening understanding, empathy and acceptance leading towards behavioural change. We impart knowledge and skills in the context of practice and constantly evolve our curriculum, tools and activities ...to reflect the ever expanding learning interests and objectives of our participants, as well as of our own growth. Our facilitators are a consortium of intercultural practitioners, educators, researchers and cultural brokers who, together possess centuries of knowledge and insight to inform your practice, your methods and your worldview. Registrations are now available for the upcoming workshops: Foundations for Intercultural Practice Pre-Migration Context: Role Changes and the Influence of Culture on Refugee Families PTSD, Trauma and Strategies to work with affected Newcomer Individuals and Families From Colonialism to Interculturalism: Shifting Dynamics of Power For INFO or to REGISTER Email: [email protected] Tel: (780) 423-1973 http://mchb.org/programs/cultural-competency/

"Age of Wisdom Common Agenda Gathering - an Inaugural Gathering of A Collective - Giving Voice to Edmonton's Immigrant Refugee and Newcomer Seniors" On Thursday, April 11, 2018, the Age of Wisdom Collective Project Initiative, funded by the Age Friendly - an international movement - Edmonton, in joint stewardship with MCHB Co-op, Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council, Multicultural Women and Seniors Services Association, and the City of Edmonton had a special gathering. A c...ore group of seven insightful seniors from our communities came together with 25 colleagues - from the three orders of government, Alberta Health Services, and senior serving organization - to develop a common agenda for mobilizing changes for the betterment of the lives of our seniors in Edmonton. Participants left the Gathering validating the importance of the work done in this project and the vital role of these core group of seniors in our city and expressed a desire to support the growth of the Collective voice. See more

Did you know MCHB designs tailor-made meaningful workshops and training opportunities for organizations to gain awareness and skills about culturally responsive practice and collaboration? Learn more: http://mchb.org/programs/cultural-competency/