Halima's story

August 22, 2007

Above all else, Halima wants people to know that the most important thing she received from the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre was a smile.

Halima, an immigrant from Somalia, had many needs when she first went to the resource centre in southeast London looking for help. She had arrived in London three years earlier with a husband and three children. Before long, two more children were born. The family was dependent on Halima's husband as not only the breadwinner but also the English speaker. Then he left them and Halima had few community connections to fall back on to look after her family and herself.

Somehow she found the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre, a United Way funded agency, not far from her home. The busy little neighbourhood centre in southeast London has a host of practical services for people living in poverty, individuals with disabilities, single parents and newcomers to Canada. Among its services are a clothing exchange, a baby food bank, a job search centre, English as a second language classes.

The staff embraced Halima and provided her with food for the family, clothes for the kids and English classes. But Halima's enduring impression of the helpers at the centre is something less tangible yet in a way more powerful. "They smiled first," she recalls.

Those smiles helped her cross the language barrier and see right to the heart of the staff at the centre. "They are good people working there," she says.

Today, Halima is enrolled at the G.A. Wheable Centre for Adult Education, continuing to improve her English and develop job skills. Life is not always easy - she needs work and raising five kids is always a challenge - but she perseveres, knowing there are people in the community who care about her.

Enabling Aboriginal people and newcomers to be successful participants in community life is one of United Way of London & Middlesex's areas of focus. Learn more.