Grand Opening of Calgary’s New Canadian Friendship Centre
By Len Chan : The Grand Opening of Calgary’s New Canadian Friendship Centre (NCFC) was held May 11th.
“What is NCFC?” It is a place to connect, learn and belong. The New Centre has a café, kids play area, clothing corner, teen room and space to host community events. Services offered include Career Mentoring, Family Support Workshops, Homework Help, and English as a Second Language instruction. The Centre’s mandate includes extending helping hands to immigrants, Settlement and Integration, Friendship and Support. Most importantly the Centre will provide immigrants the chance to feel at ease and with the help of knowledgeable volunteers and staff assist them as they lean to adapt to the Canadian lifestyle.
Director Ashwin Ramani, who came from India four years ago with his wife, opened the ceremony. He said the Centre with its homey atmosphere, ideal location and the many services it offers will make the transition to Canada easier. New Immigrants of all ages facing
language, weather, food, clothing, transportation differences, etc., often wonder if they made the right decision to come to Calgary or perhaps they should have gone somewhere else.
Special guests, attending the opening included MP Devinder Shory, Calgary Deputy Mayor Ray Jones and City Councilor Jim Stevenson. Felix Ochieng and his family who came to Canada from Kenya four years ago conducted the Ribbon Ceremony.
I attended the Grand Opening Ceremony and Tour, and was very impressed with the two-floor ONE STOP immigrant resource centre.
The New Canadian Friendship Centre, which is operated by the Centre Street Church, is located at: Unit 117-5401 Temple Drive NE. Calgary. It is next to a supermarket in the community of Temple. And as it is in an open mall, there is lots of parking. Calgary Transit Bus leads to the C-Train stations and Bus # 23 and Bus #38 are the most convenient routes.
The website for the Centre is NCFCENTRE.COM and the e-mail is info@ncfcentre.com
