“Diversity and inclusion [help form] the red thread—our collective passion—that is woven throughout all our programs and service.”
We’re excited to announce that Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House has been honoured for our commitment to social inclusion at this year’s annual AMSSA Diversity Awards.
The awards are organized by the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA) to recognize members’ innovative contributions to diversity in the province.
Receiving AMSSA’s Riasat Ali Khan Diversity Award on behalf of our House, Morie Ford, Family Literacy Outreach Coordinator, spoke passionately about her work.
“Racism and exclusion have no place in the Canada that those of us in this room know and love. There are other values that helped shape our country,” said Ford.
“Those values include inclusion, immigration, diversity, respect, multiculturalism—and it is those values that this award celebrates today.”
Ford oversees the Family Literacy Outreach program, which matches volunteer English tutors with new immigrants to Canada and their children, helping families develop their English skills, connect to community resources, and explore their new neighbourhood.
This ethos of community and diversity is at the core of all the services provided at our House. Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House offers programs for immigrants, refugees, newcomers and longtime neighbours.
Each year the House serves more than 7,200 people from all walks of life, and every generation—from infants to seniors. Participants, volunteers and staff come from more than 40 countries and many Indigenous nations from around the globe.
“Diversity and social inclusion are basic tenets of our work at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House,” said Executive Director Jocelyne Hamel.
“This is the red thread—our collective passion—that is woven throughout all our programs and service.”
The award ceremony was attended by the family of Riasat Ali Khan, the renowned religious and community leader who founded Vancouver’s oldest mosque in 1963.
Khan spent 40 years championing diversity and helping immigrants integrate into Canadian communities, before he tragically passed away in 2003. Founded in 2005, AMSSA’s Riasat Ali Khan Diversity Award honours his memory and celebrates organizations that promote diversity.
Winners must show excellence in innovating, developing, supporting, and implementing a program relating to settlement, integration, multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion.
For volunteer Ryan Avola, Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House succeeds at “bringing as many voices as we can together to learn about each other’s stories and find the best ways to support each other and lift each other up.”
Award winners are also recognized for collaborating with the community, showing leadership in promoting diversity, creating a positive outcome, and inspiring others to make change.
“Any time you get too stuck in your own world, your own experience, you kind of miss out on the ways that you can be doing that work with other people,” said Avola.
“And you learn about the work that’s already been done, and you can build together and learn from each other, and that’s very important.”
Support diversity at our House!
Join us in the Winner’s Circle
If you’d like to support Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House and our work to promote diversity and inclusion, why not join us at our upcoming fundraiser, The Winner’s Circle?
Join us for this much-anticipated fun and fancy evening!
With betting on virtual horse-racing, cocktails and canapés from local businesses, a silent auction, prizes, and suprises, you’ll have a great time with friends, family and colleagues in the Winner’s Circle.
Bet on a winning horse for a chance to win a prize package, or to be entered into the grand prize 50/50 draw!
Tickets
- Single tickets Includes food and one beer or signature cocktail
$60/person until October 1
$75/person on October 2 - Group tables $600 for 8 people, includes food and one beer or signature cocktail per person
Drinks & Bets
- Beer from Main Street Brewing: $5
- Moscow Mule cocktails: $5
- Bets: $5
Sponsorship Packages
- $1,000 Race Package
- Featuring your company name logo on the big screen before a race, with an announcement by our MC
- A social media post about your organization, leading up to the big event, and a social media post on the night of the event
- $2,500 Winner’s Circle Package
- Race Sponsorship: Featuring your company name logo on the big screen before a race, with an announcement by our MC
- Your organization’s logo on our poster
- A social media post about your organization, leading up to the big event and a social media post on the night of the event
- Space for your organization’s signage at the event (a poster or banner)
Accessibility
There is a ground-floor wheelchair accessible entrance at Heritage Hall, as well as a wheelchair accessible washroom that is available for use as a gender-inclusive washroom. Multi-stall gendered washrooms are located down one flight of stairs, and we ask folks to use these ones if they can. For those with scent sensitivities, we endeavour to have a scent-reduced environment at our House but people at this event may be wearing scented products. For those with electromagnetic frequency (EMF) sensitivities, please be aware that WiFi and mobile phones will be in use. Please contact us you have additional accessibility needs so we can do our best to support you in attending this event.
Contact Us
Call Jenny to sponsor us, participate, or find out more:
604.879.8208 ext 102 | jvanenckevort@mpnh.org