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The 411 Seniors Centre Receives 2003 Cultural Harmony Award (November 2003) Each year the City of Vancouver honours and recognizes an individual and an organization for outstanding contributions to the promotion of cultural harmony. The 411 Seniors Centre is pleased to be this year’s recipient of the City’s Cultural Harmony Award in the Organization category. Mayor Larry Campbell presented the Award to 411’s President Gil Evans and Multicultural Committee Chair Shams Jilani during a ceremony at City Hall on November 18. The 411 Seniors Centre began its process of becoming an inclusive and welcoming organization to all seniors through the formation of a multicultural committee and the adoption of a multicultural statement in the mid ‘90s. That multicultural statement reads, “Vancouver is a people of diverse characteristics and expressions. We are women and men of all races, religions, cultures, abilities and economic levels. We speak many languages. The 411 Seniors Centre values this diversity. We at 411 endeavour to reflect the diversity of our region in our membership, or Board of Directors, our volunteers, and our staff. We at 411 recognize that our role is to serve the issues and needs of all older people. We respect our neighbours. We at 411 expect that all those who come to our Centre, and all those who provide or receive our services, will extend the same respect to all those they meet here. Therefore, we will act to promote the inclusion of all older people in our Centre and in our region.” Since that time, the 411 Seniors Centre has partnered with various organizations and nurtured many projects to support its commitment to inclusion. Several years ago the 411 worked with Immigrant Services Society to develop and deliver the first ESL curriculum designed for seniors. In 1999 the 411 partnered with the Vancouver Cross-Cultural Seniors Network and several other seniors serving organizations to develop the Seniors Summit, an extraordinary conference attended by hundreds that sought to identify the needs of low-income seniors and seniors from minority cultural backgrounds. Today the 411 Seniors Centre is supporting WE*ACT (Women Elders in Action), a project geared to give voice to women elders from all walks of life. Over the years the 411 Seniors Centre has also demonstrated its commitment to diversity through partnerships with government, working today with Health Canada and Veterans Affairs on a peer education project aimed at reducing falls, with sessions in Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and English. Today the 411 also partners with the Health Authority to develop a peer volunteer program to connect with seniors in different cultural communities to better understand their health information needs. The 411 Seniors Centre has further demonstrated its commitment to inclusivity by: providing culturally sensitive Information and Referral (I&R) services to seniors in several languages; developing brochures and resource information for seniors in several languages including Chinese, Farsi, Spanish, Punjabi, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and Filipino; continuing to seek and support partnerships and projects that support diversity; and by establishing an annual Multicultural Day event to showcase and celebrate the diversity of its membership. In line with its commitment to inclusivity, the 411 Seniors Centre Society is entering its third year of partnership with The Centre (an organization that serves and supports Vancouver’s lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual communities) and Family Services of Greater Vancouver in the LGTB Generations Project, designed to address the unique needs of aging and older lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual (LGTB) persons. Through the LGTB Generations Project the 411 Seniors Centre has undergone an organizational overhaul: amending its constitution and by-laws to reflect inclusive language; providing education and sensitivity workshops for board members, staff and volunteers; providing special training for I&R counsellors; examining current programs and services to ensure inclusivity; hosting unique LGTB events for seniors; participating in Vancouver’s Pride Parade; and establishing an annual Pride Day celebration for aging and older LGTB people. As well, the 411 Seniors Centre has partnered for several years with CHOICES, providing their developmentally challenged clients with meaningful volunteer opportunities to learn new skills which would help them to find paid employment. ~Carol Lloyd
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