My tiredness goes away when I see them happy
My tiredness goes away when I see them happy – Zarintaj Muzaffari How many people have I fed? 10… 20 thousand maybe… I cannot keep count. I became the head cook in 2015, having worked here as a part-time cook since 2007. Since then, I have interacted more with clients and counselors. My husband worked […]
Don’t worry. There is always a solution.
Don’t worry. There is always a solution. – Elvira Bonilla The very first thing I noticed on the wall when I came here in 2001 was a phrase that said, “I was a stranger, and you made me welcome.” I felt a sense of security and, at the same time, a sense of belonging as […]
Sometimes You Cry Together; Sometimes You Laugh Together
Sometimes You Cry Together; Sometimes You Laugh Together – Bindu Narula The other day, I was leaving for home, and it was very windy outside. All the kids (at MCRC) ran out because the chairs started to tumble. They were pulling the chairs back in. I stopped and watched. Subsequently, it started to rain hard. […]
This was my first home. Now, I maintain it!
This Was My First Home. Now, I Maintain it! – Camron Firouzbakht A person from the Iranian community brought me here. That was in April 2012. I did not feel like a stranger. Like you see a place, and then you feel good about it. When I looked at the house, it was like I […]
The Day I was ‘Fly on the Wall’
The Day I was ‘Fly on the Wall’ – Jill Edgington Kirby I had been volunteering with a refugee family from Burma (Myanmar) for two years, around 2009. It was a very young family with a toddler who had become like family to me. They had been waiting for their extended families to join them in […]
It Does Get Better
It Does Get Better – Gordana Radan For our CEO, Gordana Radan, Margaret Chisholm Resettlement Centre (MCRC) holds a special place in her heart. It was her first home in Canada when she arrived as a refugee from the former Yugoslavia nearly 30 years ago, among the first group of arrivals to be housed at […]
There were no accolades or anything she was after
There were no accolades or anything she was after – Joe Chisholm It’s amazing what result of the work she did has become. I remember the office mom had. It was a little office in the parish. To see what it looks like today and how many people are involved It’s amazing. It is unbelievable. […]
MCRC at 30 and Just Beginning
MCRC at 30 and Just Beginning – Bishop Emeritus F. B. Henry As we celebrate this important benchmark in the history of CCIS, most of my days are behind me, but my thoughts turn in a particular way to the reality of child migrants and the future – their future. We have made a good […]
Working at MCRC has changed me
Working at MCRC has changed me – Margaret Styczynska I spent 36 years with CCIS, around 25 years in this building alone. MCRC is not only the building. Yes, it’s a house. But for me it is more than a house. It is home. It has been the first home for thousands of refugees who […]
I feel proud and grateful
I feel proud and grateful – Theresa Chisholm The day that it (MCRC) was opened, we planted a tree. Joe and I planted a tree in front of the house. At the opening, this house seemed so big, and now it seems it should be bigger. I think that my mom would have loved to […]
