Chris in the News: Community rallies behind refugee centre

A bitterly cold February afternoon is not the normal sort of setting for community gardening.

Ken Peters
The Hamilton Spectator

But it didn't stop more than 300 Hamiltonians who turned out Saturday to get their hands dirty with a show of support for the Settlement and Integration Services Organization's New Dawn Reception Centre for refugees.

The new centre, located at the top of the Claremont Access, had been the target last week of an anonymous flyer warning residents of potential problems that would result from its establishment.

Dr. Gary Warner, a former SISO chairperson, likened the support rally to a community gardening endeavour.

"This defines to me the Hamilton that I love. The Hamilton that opens its heart. You can see the spirit in this room saying that flyer was not us.

"If you see a weed springing up, you have to remove the weed and not allow it to grow. And the way you do it is to surround that weed with good strong grass. And that is what we have done," he said.

They came from the neighbourhood. They came from Queen's Park and Parliament Hill. They came from the Hamilton Police Service, the Hamilton District School Board, the Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council, the Immigrant Women's Centre, the Good Shepherd Centre, the Hamilton Community Foundation, the YMCA, the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

They came from all different cultures, but they spoke the same language and delivered the same message: New Dawn is welcome.

Archie Walker brought that message from his Wycliffe Avenue home, just a block from the centre.

He said he received that letter in his mailbox last week. "I showed it to my wife. It sickened us, like everyone else who read it. I'm sure it sickened them, too. On behalf of the people in this immediate area Rosedene, Wycliffe, I'd like to welcome the New Dawn Centre," he said.

Walker said a huge beech tree in front of the centre was a gift to the nuns who previously called the centre home. The tree was from Israel and wasn't expected to adapt to the Canadian soil.

"But that tree continues to grow today and I hope the New Dawn Centre continues to grow and takes roots in the community," he said.

Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton lent a little perspective to the event.

"I have to say one person with access to a photocopier machine is no match for the goodwill of the people in this room, it is no match for the neighbourhood of the New Dawn Centre and it is no match for a city as compassionate as my Hamilton."

SISO chairperson Hussein Hamdani said the huge turnout for the rally brings great comfort to the city's newcomers.

"It's a great feeling to know that there are people who support you, who will pray for you, who will do what they can on a cold Saturday afternoon to come to a gathering to say you are welcome."