MANSO is introducing a new segment in our news and e-news to feature our member organizations’ current events and program updates. As an organization with over 60 members, MANSO wants to be intentional about increasing awareness of one another’s programs and services.
Neepawa and Area Immigrant Settlement Services (NAISS) has been in existence since 2008. NAISS was funded by the Manitoba government until November 2013 when it came under the direct supervision of IRCC.
Since the last census of 2011 Neepawa’s population has grown by 27%. This is primarily due to the efforts of Hylife foods, the largest employer in the area who recruit Temporary Foreign workers to our area who later become Permanent Residents.
The NAISS office is located in Neepawa but serves six other rural communities and eight municipalities. Our target population is identified by criteria outlined by IRCC. We currently are not funded to provide services to Temporary Foreign Workers.
We offer LINC English language training from literacy to CLB 6. We are able to provide a variety of Information and Orientation sessions addressing a multiplicity of areas of everyday life. We offer Employment services as well as a strong Social and Community Connections component. We partner or network with a number of mainstream agencies and programs to enhance our service delivery capacity. Programs are developed based on information generated from the client needs assessments and general feedback.
We try to be broad based with programs and services targeted towards eligible individuals, parents, families, pre-school children and youth. We are intending to expand our youth program activities as well as our Employment program within the coming year.
We recently partnered with the local Regional Health Authority to provide a Healthy Eating in Canada series of workshops; including touring a grocery store, identifying healthy Canadian eating options, menu planning, and cooking with different food products – this was a huge success.
Our philosophy is integration through education, networking and effective newcomer community involvement. Integration is a total community endeavour and we all have our role to play in making it happen.
By: Don Walmsley Coordinator – Neepawa and Area Immigrant Settlement Services, Inc.
