Make Yourself at Home Campaign

Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services displayed its Make Yourself at Home! settlement campaign on April 30th, 2010, as part of provincial-wide Community Health Day. Community Health Day was celebrated by the province’s 74 other Community Health Centres and the focus of the day was Health Equity - better health for all.

The Make Yourself at Home! settlement campaign features a collection of 5 posters and postcards, each of which targets different newcomer communities. In order to increase accessibility we have translated all postcards into Hindi, Somali, Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Amharic, Turkish and French. In addition to the printed materials, the campaign also features a 5 minute video which will be available soon.

As part of Community Health Day celebrations, we invited everyone to download our materials and display them in visible places where their co-workers, clients, friends and family could see them.

We also invited clients, participants, staff and community members to take part in acknowledging that “Health is a Settlement Issue” by checking out the campaign materials at all three Access Alliance locations, as well as share their thoughts on the question, 'What Does Good Health Mean To You?"

Answers included: Happiness and peace of mind; To be cared for and supported and connected; Mental, spiritual and physical wellness; Good health is a precious gift; To feel comfortable; To be with family; To feel connected; Having a good community centre like Access Alliance.

On May 22, 2010, we promoted the Make Yourself At Home! settlement campaign at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival to highlight the various LGBTQ newcomer specific programs and services offered by Access Alliance.

The goal of the campaign is to increase awareness of settlement services available to immigrants and refugees in the city of Toronto. Many newcomers struggle as they try to settle down in a new country, yet they do not know about the scope of settlement services and programs available in their communities.

If you would like to received hard copies of the materials, please forward your requests to Hari Ghimire, Newcomer Outreach Worker by email at hghimire@accessalliance.ca or phone at 416.760.8677 ext. 297