Celebrate Pop-Up Child Care, a social enterprise launched by Pacific Immigrant Resource Society (PIRS), that provides on-demand, on-site, child care services and connects immigrant and refugee women with child care training and employment at their online showcase on Thursday February 18, 2021 from 2-3:30 PM PST via Zoom. The 90 minute event will weave presentations … Read more
110 PIRS families receive weekly food support from our two Food Hub locations, in Vancouver and Burnaby. Apart from nutritious fruit and veggies, participants also receive a sense of security and belonging. They know they can count on us for support to navigate this long crisis. This increased outreach support is essential for many newcomer … Read more
We are so grateful to everyone who supported PIRS’ annual fundraising campaign. Like the immigrant and refugee women PIRS serves, we know that many of you are struggling too. And that makes the outpouring of support even more special! This year we challenged our community of donors to help us raise $45,000. All told, we … Read more
This testimony was written by Nooshin, a participant in our LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) program. Like autumn weather, immigration has short and gloomy days. You drown in memories of what your days could have consisted of, and find yourself stuck in what feels like quicksand. Neither sunshine nor rain could lighten the burden or … Read more
110 PIRS families receive weekly food support from our two Food Hub locations, in Vancouver and Burnaby. This is Isabel’s story… Isabel is a single mom. After working hard to get ahead, she decided to start her own cleaning business. But at the start of the pandemic, she lost most of her clients, and her … Read more
Volunteering, giving, receiving… they all connect our community, and make every member feel needed and appreciated. “Black Bean Brownies” is a story about the adventures of a young refugee girl. It’s based on the true story of Lamar, the daughter of a PIRS Building Bridges graduate, Zena, who also translated the text into Arabic. Written … Read more
You’ve undoubtedly heard the stories… Newcomers to Canada have been hit hard by the pandemic. And women, particularly racialized women, are suffering from significant, widespread negative impact that could take many years to undo. Picture Maria’s journey: a single mother of two who arrived in Canada at the beginning of the year, dreaming of a … Read more
This year has been a whirlwind… But it has also shown us the power of community! For months now, we’ve had to keep each other safe, to look out for one another. PIRS too has been keeping the pulse on the community of immigrant and refugee women that we serve and trying our hardest to … Read more
A blog by Sanzida Habib PIRS has recently received a grant from the Disability Alliance to adapt and make one of our current programs, called Building Bridges, accessible to immigrant and refugee women with visible and invisible disabilities. In Building Bridges we work, learn and have fun with fellow women of diverse ethnicities, age groups, … Read more
Pacific Immigrant Resources Society Celebrates GivingTuesday with “Warm-up a newcomer family’s winter”, joining millions around the world participating in the global generosity movement on December 1, 2020. Winter is upon us and the days are getting shorter and darker. This year will be particularly hard for immigrant and refugee women. As the second COVID wave … Read more