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Executive Summary

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In the last few weeks, we lost two stalwarts of the sector – Kay Blair and Fred Franklin. Both were extraordinary leaders in the social justice work of the sector, Kay with a focus on immigrant settlement, and women economic and social empowerment; and Fred on refugee protection and detention issues for all those imprisoned, refugees or not.

Self-Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of self whilst caring for others, simply because you are worth it!

In this fast paced, high tech and low touch environment stress is becoming the new norm for many individuals and organizations. However, you have a choice.  You can choose Self-Stewardship for your own wellness.

Here are 7 Self-Stewardship tips to consider as you go through your day:

Executive Director’s Message - September 2016

This is the front page of Canada’s largest newspaper that greeted me last weekend. I had to read twice to ensure that I did not misread: “67. The percentage of Canadians who agree that immigrants should be screened for anti-Canadian values.” And this: “29. The percentage of Canadians who believe the state has a role in telling women what they can wear”. Excuse me?

Getting started on the writing of my piece this month was difficult. I couldn’t land on themes I wanted to explore, information or opinions I wanted to share or even random thoughts. It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t focus on one or two things because there is so much going on - so much noise, so much news, so much discord, too many deaths. It all feels heavy and urgent and complex.

There are two initiatives that have been my focus for the past few weeks that I want to share with you. While the links between the two may not be casually apparent, they are related as both their goals are about change – attitudinal and systems change.

Article Series on Self-Care for the Immigrant and Refugee Serving Sector by Aina-Nia Ayo'dele (July 2016)

How are you handling stress at work?
If your answer is "o.k." to "not good at all", you may want to cry at yourself or the situation that is causing you stress?

Laughter is one of the oldest healing arts and has been reported to reduce the levels of stress hormones as well as activate the release of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins (the body's natural painkillers). A technique as simple as laughter will:

Article Series on Self-Care for the Immigrant and Refugee Serving Sector by Aina-Nia Ayo'dele (June 2016)

According to the dictionary, stress is defined as a specific response by the body to a stimulus, such as pain or fear, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

Community groups are deeply concerned by Ontario's new regulations on carding and street checks by Police. The African Canadian Legal Clinic points out that the Regulation will not adequately protect African Canadians, and will not prohibit anti-Black racism and racial profiling. The Urban Alliance on Race Relations says that the regulations fall short addressing key issues of transparency and accountability by Police, and does not address the racial profiling of Black youth. The regulations were released on March 22, 2016 by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

It seems that every week there’s a good news policy story as we witness the federal government respond to years of advocacy from a broad network of groups, organizations and individuals concerned with creating an equitable society and committed to public policy that advances the wellbeing of those who are most vulnerable among us.