The Regina Immigrant Women Centre is a non-profit community based organization that provides support services and programs geared to the development of immigrant women and their families. From its inception in the early 1980’s, RIWC has been a grassroots organization empowering new Canadian women and promoting equity and diversity in Regina. Formerly known as Immigrant Women of Saskatchewan (IWS), the organization became a Centre earlier this year to accommodate the large influx of immigrants to the city and to provide daily programming and activities for settlement, integration and retention. To this end RIWC now has a drop-in Literacy program comprised of English as a Second Language Conversation, and Basic Computer classes five days a week (beginning again at the end of August), an Outreach Capacity Building project, as well as an on-site Life Skills Training program. Ongoing research and development of culturally sensitive educational resources for immigrants are also a priority for the Centre. Development and delivery of cross-cultural information to employers and to the general public are also a future goal of Centre programming.
Funding for the above programs is both federal and provincial.
RIWC is a very cozy, welcoming and non-threatening environment for new comers. A staff of 6 and numerous volunteers (about 10-15 at any given time), strive to meet the needs of women and their families daily. RIWC is committed to building welcoming communities and as such welcomes partnerships and collaboration with corporations. One of the goals of the provincial government’s policy on immigration to the province is to retain as many of the newcomers in the city and province. RIWC is committed to that goal and is constantly striving to build relationships with a variety of stakeholders to achieve this objective.
