CIES Expansion Continues with Empowering Syrian Refugees Project Funded by City of Calgary

Acquiring the day to day Life skills in a new culture half way round the world can be a daunting task for anyone, The challenge becomes greater still when arriving under the overwhelming circumstances of a refugee. The importance of life skills such as critical thinking, self-awareness, problem-solving and communication skills within the Canadian cultural context cannot be over stated and that is why CIES developed our Empowering Syrian Refugees (ESR) Project.

Funded by the City of Calgary the ESR project will assist Syrian refugee families through training and one-on-one counselling.  The project will equip the clients with the tools needed to live a productive and fulfilling life in a new society and the ability to find ways to cope with challenges and barriers associated with relocating to a new culture.

Based on our survey, the two biggest challenges that refugees are facing at the moment are: navigating resources that are available in the city, and not being able to make informed decisions. Thus our Navigating Resources and Self-Assessment and Decision-Making sessions will provide adequate information which will help them to make sound decisions based on their unique needs. Each presentation will be 3 hours (including Arabic translation) and the information will be shared among their family members at their home.  In order to increase the participation of women, childcare will also be provided on-site during the training. Clients will be requested to register for the training in advance; but drop-in clients will also be accepted if seats are available.

Our project coordinator will serve as a counsellor and clients can either book an appointment or drop in at our CIES Whitehorn location for personal counseling.  For more information on our Empowering Syrian Refugee Project give us a call at 403-291-0002 or come see us anytime at 3820-32nd Street NE.