Food and Employment Security for Immigrant Women and Their Families

The Cause

The idea of the project is to address the food security needs of low income immigrant women and families who are struggling to purchase their basic needs supplies due job loss or having to flee abusive situations by leveraging on the resources and skills available through our Line Cook and Food Services employment training programs. Through these programs, low to mid skilled immigrant women learn occupational specific language and skills that increase their employability. The project will provide clients in our Line Cook and Food Services training programs with supplies to produce frozen meals that will be distributed to eligible families to address an immediate need for food. In collaboration with Good Food Box – Community Kitchen Program Calgary, the project will provide clients with sustainable access to nutritious food to ensure that no one goes hungry.

Through this project, we provide immigrant women with the opportunity to gain hands on experience while supporting the food needs of immigrant families in Calgary. The project addresses the immediate and urgent needs of food security while at the same time working towards addressing the long term needs of immigrant women needing to find employment and becoming self-sufficient post COVID-19.

Who Will it Benefit?

The project will benefit immigrant women and families struggling to meet their basic needs as they will receive food that will enable them to feed their families and address other pressing needs such as rent, supplies for their children, monthly bus passes, etc. The project will also benefit low to mid skilled immigrant women wanting to enhance their skills in order to find employment in food service industry as they will be able to gain practical work related experience.