About us
A second branch, with the same idea behind it.
Community Matters Mississauga is the second branch of Community Matters Toronto, a neighbourhood organisation that has worked in St. James Town for more than twenty years. A group of newcomers in Mississauga set out to bring the same approach here: support that comes from people who have already made the journey.
Vision
A united community, consisting of residents and newcomers.
Mission
We are committed to providing day to day skills and offer a means of support through quality service and experienced volunteer mentors.
Our approach
Over 80% of what a community needs, the community already has.
Our approach recognises the skills, energy and intimate knowledge of our community as the way to address the issues and challenges of our neighbourhood. We recognise that over 80% of the resources needed to tackle an issue already exist within the community. With the support of professionals and knowledge from beyond the community, unique solutions are created to deliver precise, cost-effective, exceptional results.
Our Community Assistants live in our community and possess professional accreditation and cultural knowledge, providing trusted local leadership. Having addressed the same issues as newcomers, a safe, trusted environment is created which provides a clear, understandable path to solutions.
There is complete integration in themes, messages, staff training and delivery of all Community Matters programming. A participant in a nutrition programme will also take part in employment programmes, training workshops and celebrations. The integration prevents the passing off of a participant to another agency which may not be local, nor carry the same messages, nor provide local support.
What we are working on
Three risks, and what success looks like against each.
Settlement goes wrong in predictable ways in the first years. The organisation was designed around the three stages where it does.
- 01
Adjustment
Acclimatising and getting used to a new culture, language, people and environment — or coping with the situation.
- 02
Adaptation
Learning and managing the situation without a great deal of help.
- 03
Integration
Actively participating, getting involved and contributing as a citizen of a new country.
Short term
Access
- Residents use resources created and delivered in the community to help them adjust, adapt and integrate.
- Residents take part in groups created in the community and delivered by qualified neighbours.
- Information about adjustment, adaptation and integration is made available through culturally appropriate means.
Medium term
Support and knowledge
- Safe space is created for residents to take part in their own settlement goals, with trained residents assisting where necessary.
- Residents are supported in combining living practices from back home with those accepted in Canada.
- Residents learn about the critical risk factors and their mitigation from their own cultural perspective.
Long term
Practice
- Mississauga residents demonstrate an improvement in their settlement practices.
- Newcomers and refugees take responsibility for, have the experience of, and are qualified to apply themselves in achieving exceptional settlement experiences.
Founder
Amira Mokhtar
Amira received a Bachelor of Social Service from Alexandria University in Egypt, followed by a Bachelor of Administration and a Master's in Marketing from Sadat Academy, and a Social Service Diploma earned shortly after arriving in Mississauga.
Applying all of her education and practical experience, Amira has been involved in supporting special-needs children and teenagers to communicate through the use of sign language. She announces for Arabic Radio in Canada while also working as a local newspaper reporter.
Amira applies the lessons of her own newcomer experience assisting over 100 newcomers of all cultures annually in their understanding of how to settle.
From Appendix II of the founding proposal, October 2017.
Governance
Independent, mentored, and deliberately lean.
An independent organisation
Community Matters Mississauga is a not-for-profit registered in Ontario, with a membership made up of participants and an independent Board of Directors.
Mentored by Community Matters Toronto
We partner with Community Matters Toronto for guidance and mentorship as we become established. Community Matters Toronto, a registered charity, acts as our Trustee until we are firmly established.
Volunteer first
We began by providing services and programmes on a volunteer basis from our homes. Funds raised go first to programme supplies and to recognising the volunteers who deliver the work.
Lean by design
Our administration is lean and flat, with all Community Assistants expected to perform the necessary functions of the organisation.
Our parent organisation
Community Matters Toronto
A neighbourhood organisation and registered charity that has served St. James Town for more than twenty years. It provides our organisational structure, training and mentorship, and acts as our Trustee.
260 Wellesley St. E. Unit 102, Toronto · (416) 944-9697
Visit Community Matters TorontoVision, mission, approach, outcomes, governance and founder biography are quoted from Introductory Document, prepared by Amira Mokhtar, October 2017. Contact details are from the organisation’s content brief and its printed posters. Community Matters Mississauga is a not-for-profit registered in ontario.