Vancouver forms
Jewish Community Integration Council

Jewish Family Services Agency and Shalom BC are pleased to announce the formation of the Jewish Integration Council of Greater Vancouver.

The Vancouver Jewish community has for many years welcomed settlers from South America, Israel, countries of the Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, South Africa and others.  The community is a tapestry of cultures from which lessons can be learned, ideas shared and strengths developed.  However, acculturating people is not a simple process.  It takes time, effort and resources.

Vancouver is known to be a transient city and one to which many newcomers, whether from within Canada or outside, come to build new lives.  The initial experience shared by most newcomers is a period of lost identity, confusion and loss in general.  Newcomers often experience the feeling of being an outsider, an alien, looking in, trying to regain their previous status.  Newcomers spend enormous amounts of energy searching for ways to link their past with their present, pursuing a sense of belonging and fitting in.

Building on lessons learned, Shalom BC and JFSA have launched the Jewish Integration Council, a multicultural group with representatives from many countries including former immigrants and Canadians, that offers newcomers the tools, guides and support they need to smooth their integration into the Greater Vancouver Jewish community.  Programs that will meet these objectives include:

• Airport Welcome Committee:  meet newcomers at the airport and take them to their hotel, etc.

• Welcome Baskets:  gift package including Judaica items personally delivered by a council member to welcome newcomers to the community.

• Telephone Resource network for newcomers;  telephone contacts accessible to newcomers in their own language.

• community Events and Programs:  year round cultural and social events inclusive to all.

through the intercultural exchange, a sharing of different cultures and mutual learning we break the language and cultural barriers.  The council is working towards building an all inclusive Jewish community.