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Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Letter from the Chair
of SISO
Dear Friends of SISO:
Welcome to our
New Dawn Refugee Reception
Centre campaign web site.
We appreciate your visit to
this site and I'd like to invite you to get in
touch with us at SISO to hear more about our
unfolding plans to build a welcome transition
home for refugees and immigrant newcomers as
they make their journey into life among us in
Hamilton. I want to share with you that we have
to attend to the issues regarding refugees with
much more urgency and creativity.
Some of you reading this
message may already know the refugee experience.
During the last three years SISO has welcomed
nearly 1500 refugees to Hamilton. In so many
nations of the world families are being torn
apart. Once in Hamilton, SISO helps them rebuild
their lives with dignity and determination. Now
more than ever, we need to build a reception
house in Hamilton to assist our newcomers with
settlement in this great city of ours.
Our aim at SISO is to engage
all people of Hamilton to be part of a this new
immigrant and refugee reception centre which
will serve as a welcoming place, offer cultural
training classes, English language assessment
and children's education centre for newcomers
before they settle into an independent life with
us. We have now launched into a capital campaign
to raise $6 million dollars to make our dream a
reality. Together we will raise funds to build
this wonderful community place. We want this to
be the House that Hamilton builds.
SISO has a committed staff
and many generous volunteers behind this
project. In addition, we continue our daily work
to make Hamilton a welcoming place for those
newcomers who arrive to live among us. This work
needs to involve all of us. We invite you to
join us in the New Dawn Capital Campaign
project.
Sincerely
Patricia Daenzer
Board Chair, SISO
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