040116 Saamis

It's a house that came together. with the helping hands of dozens and will become a home to hundreds of new families in years to come.

Since Medicine Hat began welcoming refugees 15 years ago, their first home in the city has been a hotel or motel.

But it wasn't ideal for immigrants with children, who were isolated from a number of necessary services on the city's outskirts. Six months ago employees at Saamis Immigration Services decided it was time for change.

"Quite honestly it was a child that made it very clear to me that a hotel is not a very good place for a young family. He was up all hours of the night and he was seeing things and hearing things, that kids just shouldn't see. That was our main purpose to pay attention to families - we just felt we weren't doing our job in that area," said Linda Gale, executive director.

After putting out a call to the community for help, a house to rent was offered by the Westminster United Church. Shortly after a $25,000 grant from the National Homeless Initiative Program came through to pay for renovations to the home, once used by a pastor.

Gale said the project is unique in the way it came together and will continue to exist.

"I don't think anybody is doing this sort of thing - all these different fronts coming together. But it's certainly what we want to see, bringing together partners that would normally not work together."

And the home, she said, could not be more perfect with a convenience store, grocery store, bus stop, pool, skating rink and schools all within walking distance.

"The benefit is that they're actually living in a real neighbourhood. Public transit orientation is very important, learning how to shop in Canada is also a big thing. There's also the ability to work with people on how to conform to Canadian society."

Ibrahim Ahmed, who came to Canada from Sudan with his wife Alia Ragab, stayed in the house for about two weeks in late November.

"It's a good location because everything is right there, you're so close to the bus and the store is right there."

A caretaker couple lives in the home, helping new families with little things like cooking over electric stoves and learning to use laundry machines.

As they get adjusted to life in Canada, living in the home for a few weeks until they can find their own place, families can fill it with the scent of their native foods and watch their children play on the lawn outside.

"When you come for the first time to a new place, you have to adapt yourself and everything, and you want to cook something you usually like."

'I think it's a good idea Saamis has this house because it's very beautiful and huge and very comfortable. It's much better than a hotel - you feel

Gale expects about 70 government sponsored refugees to stay in the home each year. With two rooms filled with bunk-beds and an array of hide-a-beds, 16 people can stay there at a time.

There's still a few things the house is without, however, like new linens, towels and a few mattresses. She's hoping Friday's grand-opening event win spur some donations.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at the house, located behind Westminster United Church on Seventh Street S.E. with tours of the house to follow. From 3 to 4 p.m., a cultural fair and ethnic food fair will also be held at Saamis Immigration Services Association, located at 177 12 Street N.E.

The public is invited to attend both events and shuttle service between the agency and house will be provided. The open house will run again on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at both locations.

* Canada Immigration and Citizenship - operational funds and refugee destination

Good News From Westminster United Church in Medicine Hat

authored Spring 2006

Westminster United in Medicine Hat would like to share a success story with the wider church. For many years now, clergy here have received a housing allowance and Westminster has kept and rented the manse to long-term tenants. A few years ago the group-home that was renting the manse told us they would be building their own group-home and that we would need to find other tenants.

Meanwhile, for over 20 years Saamis Immigration (SI) has operated in Medicine Hat serving the needs of all classes of immigrants. That organization is funded by the federal and provincial governments and governed by a volunteer board of directors. Their small staff serves in excess of 400 newcomers every year via the committed support of their many volunteers.

As a church that has sponsored 3 refugee families over the years Westminster is all too aware that refugees, sponsored by the government, often arrive in Medicine Hat with only the clothes they are wearing and whatever they can carry. These folks rely on SI to make their transition smoother.

The connection between Westminster United Church (WUC) and SI allowed us to map our assets and plot a partnership strategy that considered firstly, the needs of the new Canadian residents and secondly, our respective places in their process. It has always been the work of SI to welcome newcomers arriving at our airport with a volunteer from the specific cultural group of the new arrivals. Typically, within the first 3 weeks after arrival most newcomers have secured a home of their own�usually an apartment�registered children in school, met with a doctor and begun adult education.

Most often these first 3 weeks are extremely challenging yet exciting and in small centers across Canada newcomers usually reside in hotels or motels paid for by Canadian Immigration and Citizenship (CIC). The simple realities of Alberta�s very active oilfield leading to almost no vacancy in moderately priced commercial accommodation means newcomers were generally housed in low cost hotels which unfortunately exposed them to issues and activities which are not family friendly.

Following Saamis� lead and through a flexible approach, the (CIC) was able to allocate the funds previously used to pay for commercial accommodation toward renting a home which could be used as a Reception Center.

At Westminster, the background in refugee work done through our Mission and Outreach committee encouraged us to dialogue with SI about our recently available manse. Within weeks an offer of a potential Reception House was made. It was proposed that the existing manse be offered to Saamis at a very reasonable monthly rate thereby allowing the birth of a local Reception House.

With this commitment we jointly informed our community of the requirements to make this dream a reality and within days Medicine Hat Social Housing Committee had met with SI and WUC and asked for a proposal to address the structural upgrades needed to change the home from single dwelling to multiple users. Volunteer contractors within the congregation assisted SI to prepare a detailed request including a proposed budget. In record time the answer YES came back to our humbled joint committee!!

The housing society granted our project $25,000.00 to complete all of the required changes within the manse. With some volunteer work from the WUC property committee, the completed renovations exceeded the dollar value granted to our project. Conservatively, it can be estimated that $40,00.00 worth of improvements were achieved with the $25,000.00 actually granted. There is no better multiplier of funds than the committed efforts of a determined group of excited volunteers.

The new Reception House was enhanced with separate living quarters for the caretaker, a completely upgraded kitchen (cabinets and all) new flooring and fresh paint where it was needed. Work proceeded at a rapid rate and within a few months we were operational and our first newcomers were welcomed.

Now families are able to shop for and prepare their own food supplanting the previous practice of eating restaurant fare. They now also develop North American life skills like operating washers, dryers and other conveniences in the presence of someone who understands these machines and most importantly they can experience a residential setting immediately upon their arrival in our community.

This new joint ministry allows newcomers the ability to focus on the very real work of settlement. No longer does SI worry about those first few weeks for together we know that welcoming care is present in a home that was built by the community. The community continues to donate everything from warm winter clothing to books and toys and our third year of partnership is as blessed as the excitement of our first conversations.

This has truly been a journey of faith for all involved. By mapping and sharing our assets we know, without a doubt, that together we are far more able to serve this special part of our community than we could ever be alone.


Westminster Board Members: Dave Gerhardt, Grace Lemon, John Sidlick, Rev. Farrell, Pat Evans, Karen Madill, Donna Scharf and Saamis Director: Linda Gale

kitchen, dining area	living room	office, study area	sleeping area