The integration of immigrants in the social life of the society is extremely important because it contributes to the inclusion of the immigrant population and prevents the emergence of problems associated with the exclusion of immigrants. In this respect, it should be said that the exclusion of immigrants raises a number of problems, including the problem of the lower employment opportunities for immigrants, limited educational opportunities, growing crime rates, social tension and other problems, which gradually affect the entire society. In such a situation, the integration of immigrants into a normal social life is crucial. At the same time, it should be said that the integration of immigrants into the society is traditionally conducted by the state and it is state policy which define the immigration policies and the position of the immigrant population. However, today, the state can hardly cope with all the problems immigrants can face in the modern society. In such a situation, the assistance of public organizations is needed because public, non-profitable organizations can facilitate the adaptation of immigrants to the new cultural and social environment and help them to get integrated into the society. On the other hand, the integration of the immigrant population into the society should not lead to the total assimilation of immigrants but rather provide them with an opportunity to find their own place in the new country, society and culture. In such a context, the functioning of such organizations as the North York Community House is particularly important because such organizations do not only help immigrants to adapt to the life in the totally new socio-cultural environment, but also preserve their culture, traditions and identity.
The North York Community House (NYCH) is the community center which provides a wide range of programs and services to immigrants in Southwest North York, Canada. The functioning of this organization is extremely important for the local community, where the share of the immigrant population is relatively high. It is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the NYCH aims at the assistance to immigrants to integrate into the local community and get accustomed to Canadian culture and lifestyle. At the same time, the NYCH stresses that the community center does not attempt to assimilate immigrants but, in stark contrast, it aims at fostering a sense of belonging, independence, and creativity, and build strong, healthy communities. In such a way, the major goal of the community center is to help immigrant to start a normal social life in the new country.
In order to understand the significance of the NYCH for the immigrant population, it is necessary to dwell upon the problems immigrants face in Canada, when they arrive to the country and attempt to find their place in the new country. First of all, immigrants face the problem of the adaptation to the totally different lifestyle, especially if immigrants arrive from countries of the third world, which have a different culture and traditions compared to Canada. In such a situation, people cannot lead the traditional lifestyle anymore and models of behavior which they accustomed to and which they get used to take for granted are not always acceptable in Canadian environment. Hence, immigrants need to develop new models of behavior which meet local norms and traditions. Otherwise, they cannot be integrated into the local community.
In fact, the inability of immigrants to adapt new lifestyle or, at least, develop new models of behavior in Canadian environment, lead to their isolation and they can face risk of becoming outcasts in the Canadian society. Canadian traditions and cultural norms can be strange or even hostile to immigrant but they need to accept them or develop new models of behavior which make their interaction with the local population efficient. However, often immigrants cannot change their traditional lifestyle, especially representatives of the older generation as well as women, if they originate from undemocratic countries or countries where the position of women is oppressed by men. In such a context, the assistance of the NYCH is particularly important because the NYCH aims at the help to women, children, youth and families.
At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that women, youth and children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of immigration, which implies the change of the cultural environment. In fact, children suffer from separation with their friends and they cannot immediately change their lifestyle, although children adapt changes faster than adults. As for women, they often in a worse position compared to men because immigrants from Latin America, Asian countries and other countries of the third world are accustomed to the secondary role of women in the society. Therefore, immigrant women from the third world often are unemployed and totally dependent on their husbands. Naturally, such dependence and the lack of contacts with the local population because of cultural differences can lead to the development of depression and serious psychological problems.
In this respect, it is necessary to take into consideration the problem of the lack of the language proficiency. Many immigrants suffer from this problem and the NYCH provides immigrants with educational services focusing on the provision of larger opportunities for immigrants to learn language along with the study of the local culture and the general education, which facilitates the integration of immigrants into the Canadian society and their adaptation to the new cultural environment and lifestyle. At this point, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the lack of language competence can raise unsurpassable barriers between immigrants and the local population.
As it has been just mentioned above, many immigrants have poor language competence that a priori puts them into a disadvantageous position compared to the local population in vitally important aspects of the life. For instance, the lack of the language competence limits consistently job opportunities of immigrants. As a result, they are forced to look for low-paid, semi- or low-qualified jobs because they cannot be employed at the workplace where the language competence is important, while, today, the communication is important in practically all spheres of social life. Hence, the language proficiency is an essential condition of the successful employment.
At the same time, the lack of the language competence increases cultural barriers because immigrants cannot communicate freely with the local population, while the communication is apparently the most efficient way to eliminate cultural barriers because through communication people can better understand each other and develop positive relationships.
Furthermore, the poor language competence affects the education and academic successes of children from immigrant families. They often fail at school because they do not know language well enough. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that education is important for successful professional career and it opens larger job opportunities. In such a situation, immigrants face a problem of the professional assistance in regard to teaching language to immigrant children as well as adults.
In this respect, the role of the NYCH can hardly be underestimated because the community center offers education programs which aim at the development of the language proficiency for different age groups. This means that immigrants can learn language attending courses at the NYCH. The employment of professional educators as well as volunteers ensures the high quality of educational programs and enthusiasm of professionals working at the center. Many immigrants work at the community center and they share their experience with new immigrants. Such sharing of immigrants’ experience can be very helpful since problems they face are often similar because the mechanism of the adaptation and integration of immigrants to the life in the new cultural environment does not change much.
Remarkably, the NYCH aims not only at individuals, but at entire families. In such a way, the center provides families with professional assistance and helps them find their own place in the new society, to adapt to the new lifestyle and provide them with strategies which can facilitate their life in Canada. The NYCH views the help to immigrants as a complex problem which implies the mutual efforts from the part of the entire community. In other words, the community center uses the full potential of the community because people learn how to interact with other people, who have a different cultural background, they learn efficient communication styles, and, what is more, they learn how they can organize their own community. Therefore, they can preserve their traditional culture and cultural identity, while the unification of people within a community helps them to take their own niche in the Canadian society.
The services provided by the NYCH are not limited by the organization of training and language courses for immigrants. In fact, the community center actively helps immigrants to solve their settlement problems. The NYCH provides various settlement services, including form filling and referrals to community resources. It is worth mentioning the fact that the center provides settlement services to immigrants providing them with specialists who can use the native language of immigrants. To put it more precisely, the community center provides immigrants with Spanish-language and Tamil-language support in settlement services.
In addition, the NYCH provides school settlement services. Many immigrants face the problems with provision their children with education and the center helps them to settle their children at Canadian schools. In such a way, the community center facilitates the integration of immigrant children into the Canadian society and opens larger education opportunities for immigrants. Obviously, if immigrants cannot settle their children at school, the latter are simply doomed to life in poverty since they will not have good job prospects, if they do not have education.
In this respect, the language instruction is particularly helpful because immigrant children can learn language at the center that accelerates their integration into their peer groups and helps them to learn successfully at school. Consequently, the NYCH needs educators who are trained to work with ESL students. In fact, English is second language for immigrant children and they need efficient curriculum and educational programs to learn the language fast. This is why teachers of ESL students are needed because they are trained and experienced in work with ESL students and they can help them not only to learn language but also to adapt to the new cultural environment.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the NYCH performs a very important social function – it helps immigrants to start a normal life in Canada that is probably the most difficult challenge to immigrants who have just arrived to Canada. The community center provides numerous services, including settlement services, school settlement services, language instructions and others. In such a way, the center helps immigrants to adapt to the new cultural environment faster.

References:
North York Community House. (2009). Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from http://www.nych.ca/home.html
Programs for Newcomers. (2007). Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from http://www.nych.ca/NYCH_schedule_June.pdf
“The North York Community House.” (2006) Annual Report. Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from http://www.nych.ca/06Report.pdf

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