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History of the Immigrant Women's Health Centre
The Immigrant Women's Health Centre was founded in 1975 as Centro Donne. It began as an outreach program of the Birth Control and Venereal Disease Information Centre of North York (BC&VD), serving Italian women living in downtown Toronto. Two Italian women were hired through an Opportunities for Youth grant to conduct a needs survey and then to design the service. Press coverage of the Immigrant Women's Health Centre
By November 1975, Centro Donne had become autonomous from BC&VD and had expanded to include services for West Indian, Portuguese and Hispanic women. The Italian name was translated to reflect the expanded focus of the agency and Centro Donne thus became the Immigrant Women's Centre. In 1979, a Chinese-speaking counsellor was hired, and the service was then further expanded to include South-East Asian women. In 1980, South-East Asian and West Indian/black youth were targeted for special attention. Two West Indians and two South-East Asians were hired for the summer to work within their communities. Subsequently, a proposal was submitted to Employment and Immigration Canada for the funds to hire staff to provide ongoing counselling and referrals. Three women--Chinese, Vietnamese and Laotian--were hired and then trained to respond to the health and social needs of the women in these communities. Service to black youth continued through the Black Youth Hotline and Health Education project, funded as a summer program through Health and Welfare Canada. The Hotline, organized as a direct response to a survey, was designed to provide young black adults between the ages of 12 and 25 with information on sexuality, family planning and healthcare. The Hotline was extremely successful and continued through 1982 and 1983. Funding for the South-East Asian project was picked up in part by the City of Toronto which provided the funding for the Vietnamese counsellor. In 1982 and 1983 the Centre started a Mobile Health Clinic with the backing of the Department of Public Health of the City of Toronto and a grant from the Health Promotion directorate of Health and Welfare Canada. This exciting and ambitious undertaking was the focus of efforts in 1982 and 1983. |
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