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NCCC Mental Health Services Evaluation

NCCC Mental Health Services Evaluation

New Canadian Community Centre(NCCC) has held the “Mental Wellbeing Strengthening Project for Low-income and Vulnerable Seniors” under the Canadian Red Cross Grant of Strengthening Community Capacity to Support Mental Health and Wellbeing. NCCC has implemented various mental health services to promote the mental wellbeing of low-income and vulnerable seniors. An evaluation was conducted through survey and interviews regarding the mental health services held by NCCC.

According to the result of the evaluation, senior participants believe that they are more familiar with the mental health-related knowledge after participating the workshops, including mental health enhancement strategies, mental illness prevention as well as destressing techniques, which allow them to navigate the mental wellbeing challenges and cope with the difficulties. A participant commented that, “I had learnt some mental health knowledge that have never been taught before, I become more aware of my emotions and feelings after joining the workshops.” 

Moreover, they believe that the activities were able to enhance the social connectedness among the senior members. Participated in the consultation workshops, they felt like there were social bonding among the senior members which they were able to share similar experiences and emotion. A safe and comfortable platform is offered to vulnerable seniors to express their true feelings, emotions; or even share their own personal experiences, which could help developing a supporting network and social bonding among the seniors; and eventually strengthening the mental wellbeing with the supportive environment. In addition, senior participants reported that they are more likely to access to mental health support and care with the involvement of the professionals throughout the project. Consultation and counselling were offered when there were needed.

Overall, the evaluation demonstrated that the project activities had a positive impact on the mental wellbeing of senior participants. The project successfully addressed the mental wellbeing needs of vulnerable seniors.

Based on the result of the evaluation, the project shows there had a positive impact on the confidence of our volunteers to engage with and understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of communities, the majority of the volunteers reported a positive result. They believe that they are more likely to gain deeper understanding of the mental health challenges faced by seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic and have developed more effective strategies for addressing these challenges; for examples, forming social support groups and practicing mindfulness are effective ways to enhance mental wellbeing by healing their mind and body.


One of the volunteers mentioned that she felt more confident in their ability to communicate and connect with seniors, particularly those who are low-income and disabled. This increased confidence could be the result of the one-on-one communication and consultation provided through home visits, which may have helped volunteers and staff to develop a better understanding of the unique needs and preferences of individual seniors.


To conclude, the project not only resulted in positive outcomes for the senior participants, but also for the service providers, which have encouraged NCCC to keep striving to enhance seniors’ mental wellbeing through various professional consultations and workshops, and continue to provide training and service opportunities for our volunteers; resulting in the facilitation of community engagement on mental wellbeing support.

Mental Health Services Photos:

Protective Supplies Delivery

Mental Health Consultation Workshops

Home Visiting

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NCCC 2023 Annual Send Warmth to People with Disabilities

NCCC 2023 Annual Send Warmth To People With Disabilities

The spring of 2023 in Toronto was another heartwarming and touching season for New Canadian Community Centre’s senior friends with disability. They received special love and essential goods from NCCC. In this rather cold spring, these seniors felt extra loving and caring and less vulnerable to the loneliness of the warmth NCCC sent.

The NCCC is registered in Toronto and has thousands of active members. It was established to serve senior Chinese Canadians wholeheartedly. The president, Haifeng Yang, has been upholding this mission for many years. He has consistently served this community for over 20 years since the association was founded. He deems that sending greetings and essential goods to the ones in need – seniors with disabilities – is one of the important tasks the NCCC must carry out this year’s spring.

In March, after careful calculations, the presidents of each branch reported that there were 25 members with disabilities in NCCC. These members are older and not in ideal condition, they need NCCC and society’s extra attention. To help them, NCCC started to prepare this sending warmth program in mid-March 2023. First, the branches reported and registered all members with disabilities and collected their basic information, such as addresses and contact information. After they completed the paperwork, President Yang assigned the full-time volunteers, Ms. Xing and Ms. Huang, to send the greetings and goods to their homes.

It took a week to do all of the visits because these senior friends live in many different neighbourhoods in Toronto. During the visit, Ms. Xing and Ms. Huang communicated in-depth with each senior to understand their physical condition, living habits and needs. This will set the ground for NCCC to provide more specific and suitable services to them. During visits, Ms. Xing not only sent the love and warmth of NCCC but also helped and supported these senior friends in practice.

The event was made possible by the support of the Canadian Red Cross, which provided us with material support, demonstrating that caring for people with disabilities is one of the fundamental national policies of the Canadian government.

Receiver’s gratitude is beyond their words after receiving the greetings and essential goods from NCCC. They expressed their gratitude through various channels. Some receivers took pictures with Ms. Xing, the volunteer who sent the condolences, to remember NCCC’s help. They deem the warmth sent by NCCC as a good deed and warm care, making them feel remembered and secure.

Through this sending warmth program, NCCC once again contributes to the positive influences of caring for the disadvantaged and supporting social welfare. At the same time, it also makes us realize more deeply that everyone can face difficulties and challenges at some stage of life, so we need to give as much help and support to others as we can.

Seniors with disabilities are part of society and need our attention and support. We hope that through this sending warmth program, we can draw more people’s attention to the life and needs of people with disabilities to work together to warm society.

By Ruihong Li, NCCC Reporter

March 30, 2023

Feedback from seniors with disabilities who received greetings and essential goods:

Dear leaders of NCCC and the North Sunset Branch of NCCC:

Thank you so much for your care for people with disabilities and for sending us such warmth and food tirelessly. Your services made us feel that NCCC is like a warm family. Thank you again for your care and dedication to us!

Wenjie Cui

Two days ago, at 7:00 pm, NCCC and the North Sunset Branch’s volunteers drove to my door and brought me rice, noodles, green beans and other goods. I am very grateful to NCCC and the North Sunset Branch for their thoughtfulness and hard work.

Xiujuan Sun, a person with a disability

My husband is 86 years old and has been cognitively impaired by dementia since last year. He regularly gets help from the care of Mr. Teng from the NCCC branch, and today he received greetings and essential goods from NCCC, which our family appreciated! Thank you, NCCC, for caring for older people with disabilities! Thanks again!

Dear leaders of NCCC:

I am very touched by your greetings and the essential good gifts. I feel incredibly warm and happy living in such a big, loving family. I would like to express my gratitude to the leaders of NCCC and Li Shuqin, the president of the 16th Street Branch! Thank you for your care and hard work.

Yu-Fu Lee is a new member of the 16th Street Branch. “Thank you very much to President Yang and the Senior Division: your love makes me happy, like feeling warmth in winter and coolness in summer. Thank you again, President Yang, Mr. Li, and Ms. Xing Yan. Thanks for your hard work!”

President Rongrong Yuan, please kindly pass on my message to President Haifeng Yang of NCCC! Thank you for the leadership of the Senior Division! Special thanks to Ms. Xing: Thank you for reaching out to care for us, the people with disabilities, despite the bad weather and other difficulties. You insisted on transmitting your love to us. Your dedication very touches me, and thank you very much!
— Xiangyu Zhang March 31, 2023

I am a volunteer at NCCC Choir. When I received all these sumptuous food and essential items from NCCC’s staff, I was in tears and felt mixed emotions: NCCC is a non-profit organization. Where did these essential goods come from? It was all collected from the community and society by the president, and they are from good deeds. My family, relatives and friends in China learned of this situation and were all amazed by and praised the good work of NCCC. The NCCC is not concerned with those with power and money but with the underprivileged from the bottom of society. The NCCC choir will carry forward this good tradition of the NCCC, which has won people’s hearts, and do our best to help and care for the struggling older people in our group. Thank you, NCCC!

This morning, we received warm care and essential good gifts from NCCC and NCCC Yi Feng Branch volunteers. We thank the leaders and volunteers of NCCC and NCCC Yi Feng Branch for making our lives happy and joyful in a foreign country through various activities. Thank you, thank you for all your efforts!

My name is Qiuqin Jiao, and I have physical disabilities. Yesterday I received a generous gift from the NCCC Yi Feng Branch, and I feel very warm in my heart. We are in a foreign country, but we have good relations, and we, seniors with disabilities, are well taken care of. So I feel very happy; in this big family, our life is full of sunshine, thanks to NCCC Yi Feng Branch! Thank you, President Liu!

Shortly before, I received some essential goods from a lady called Xing from NCCC. Please convey our sincere thanks to NCCC! Despite their busy schedule, they had a lot of work to do, but they still remembered us and brought essential goods and warmth to our door. Society did not abandon me because of my physical disability, but I am cared for and helped by the social organization NCCC! Thank you, President Haifeng Yang, and leaders and volunteers at all levels for all your efforts.

— Xuejian Ji

NCCC leaders, NCCC Senior Division, thank you for your hard work, hearts, and caring for people with disabilities. Regardless of the long distance, bad weather, and difficulties, you insist on transmitting love to our door, to our hand. I am very touched. Our hearts are warmed. Thank you for your hard work!

The above is what Shuzhen Yu asked me to forward to President Yang. The rest are told by two members and recorded by me: “Yesterday, Ms. Xing visited my home early in the morning in the cold with many essential goods. We chatted, and I deeply felt the warmth from NCCC through their offers to help the weak and poor. Mr. Wu said that NCCC has always been compassionate and caring, and over the past few years, it has never forgotten to help people with disabilities and ensure that we stay warm through the winter! NCCC passed their goodwill to us and helped us find our passion for living. Thank you for the hard work of the leadership of the Senior Division! Thank you to the volunteer for their love and dedication!”

“This morning, I received gifts from the leaders of NCCC and Fenghua Branch! This is a thank you message from Xiudian Zhang of Fenghua TaiChi. Thank you for your warmth and kindness, which made me feel love from society. Thank you so much to President Yang, Mr. Li and all the leaders of NCCC for their kindness! It makes us disadvantaged people feel warm and happy. I am deeply touched!”

Thank you very much!

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NCCC hold the virtual festival for seniors—Praise of Canada

On Nov 20, NCCC hold the virtual festival named Praise of Canada which celebrated the 19th Toronto International Senior Festival.  There were over thousands of people watching the virtual festival. The party was produced and hosted by Mr. Harry Teng who has professional media qualifications.

President Bruce Yang gave a speech: He expressed his concerns to the elderly living at home under the epidemic, and sent the gratitude to the city councilor, MPP and MP who followed the virtual festival with video speeches or congratulatory letters. Also he said that in the future, with the strong support of the government, NCCC will further carry out a variety of actions, care for the elderly more, and serve the elderly Chinese better.

The host first read out the congratulatory letter sent by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to NCCC, and after that was video speeches and congratulatory letters from Ontario Minster Ford, MP, MPP, Mayors and city councilor. In their speeches, the guests fully affirmed the great work that NCCC has done for the elderly. They pointed out that it is Government of Canada cares to about the elderly. NCCC will serve the elderly and help the government solve problems. They thank NCCC and hope that NCCC will continue to serve the elderly under the epidemic and work with the government to overcome difficulties.  

At the party, there were 18 performances including singing and dancing, Allegro, Peking opera, Hulusi solo, and Tai Chi sword martial arts, which lasted one and a half hours. After the video of the party was played, we received a lot of the praises. People were saying that it was a amazing festival and the performances enriched their life during the pandemic and they felt so happy. 

Since the beginning of the year, NCCC has arranged various online activities such as yoga fitness, Traditional Chinese medicine epidemic prevention lectures, learning smart phone and digital skills knowledge, and learning painting, so that members can still exercise at home, learn knowledge, and no longer be lonely. Also, NCCC had a lot of activities that care of elderly such as anti-epidemic supplies (masks, gloves, hand sanitizer) and rice, noodle, cooking oil. There are more than a thousand elderly, and the materials and food were weighed more than 30 tons, and there were hundreds of volunteers joined and helped.

The elderly were appreciated that President Bruce was worrying about arranging online activities. He personally led a group of volunteers to carry rice bags, arrange the delivery, etc. The elderly also know that those materials and food were from funds of government. They expressed their gratitude to the Government of Canada. Therefore NCCC decided the theme of the virtual festival called “Praise of Canada”.

 A total of 19 guests sent video speeches and congratulatory letters to NCCC.  They are:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Minister of Ontario Doug Ford

Minister of Sennior Deb Schulte, 

Minister of International Trade Mary Ng, 

MP Majid Jowhari, Shaun Chen, Jean Yip

Toronto Mayor John Tory 

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua

MPP Vincent Ke, Billy Pang, Daisy Wai

City councilors Shelley Carroll, Isa Lee, Cynthia Lai, Alan Ho, Sandra Yeung Racco, Godwin Chan.

Nineteen government officials led by the prime minister to celebrate our virtual festival organized by NCCC is a miracle we have never seen before, and it is also another highlight of the party. The speeches of the 19 guests, especially the first time we saw MP Jean Yip, delivered a complete speech in Mandarin. The elderly understand the speech of guests were caring about the elderly, and also affirming and supporting the work of NCCC. We believe that all ethnic groups in Canada will be more united and live in harmony under the care of Government of Canada.

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NCCC unites seven organizations to send warmth to Chinese seniors

On October 3, the New Canadian Community Centre(NCCC) held an event at the entrance of Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine to care for the seniors during the epidemic.

This activity is jointly organized by Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mapleview Entertainment Inc., Jenny Learning Center Inc., Senior Art with Jenny Inc., Gansu Chamber of Commerce in Canada, Toronto Tianjin Art Troupe, and Yunnan Chamber of Commerce in Canada to send warmth “Caring for the elderly and fighting the epidemic”. This event is also sponsored and supported by Red Cross Canada.

On the day of the event, NCCC was informed by the government that it would reduce the number of people at the event to less than 50, equip them with masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer, and maintain a social distance of two meters. At 1:00 PM, host Melinda Wu announced that the ceremony of sending warmth began. Mr. Yang Haifeng, President of NCCC, expressed the most sincere greetings and concerns to the representatives and guests present. Although the ceremony of sending warmth was brief, care for the elderly was always put in the first place. In order to respond to the municipal government’s measures of epidemic prevention and community distance, NCCC took special measures, guests, according to the order of arrival speech one by one and then leave, the overall scene always keeps within 50 people and implement wearing masks and two meters of social distance.

Seniors are vulnerable groups in society,  many elderly people can only participate in activities that can communicate with each other due to the language barrier and traffic restrictions. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, NCCC often organizes the elderly to sing, dance, and paint, Sports, and other activities. In this epidemic, the government stipulates that they can only stay at home. For the elderly who stay at home for a long time, they have no children to accompany and respond to. In addition, the inconvenience caused the elderly to have difficulty in purchasing epidemic prevention materials and daily necessities. Their life situation is worrying. In order to make the elderly feel the warmth from society, NCCC and seven organizations organized a warming-sending event. They sent masks, hand sanitizers, and other anti-epidemic materials to the elderly to show their caring during the special period.

The event was supported by Canadian governments at three levels. Member of parliament Jean Yip, Majid Jowhari, Bob Saroya, and Shaun Chen, Member of Provincial Parliament and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility Daisy Wai, MPP Billy Pang’s constituency assistant Larry Lau, City Councillor Alan Ho, all attended the event. They delivered speeches and sent their caring to the event. MP Jean Yip, a member of Parliament, gave the elderly members of the Agincourt branch of NCCC oranges to show their concern for the elderly in the Agincourt community.

Small Business Minister Mary Ng, MP Salma Zahid, MPP Aris Babikian, Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, Shelley Carroll, Isa Lee, and Godwin Chan who were not present at the event, also sent greeting letters to express their support for the event.

Then seven organizations on behalf of the Ontario college of traditional Chinese medicine President BinJiang Wu, the president of Jenny Learning Center Inc. And Senior Art with Jenny Inc., the president of Canada Gansu Federation of Chamber of Commerce Zhaoan Sui, the head of Toronto Tianjin Art Troupe Yuan Zhao, the president of Mapleview Entertainment Inc. Fengjie Zhe, the vice president of Canada Yunnan Chamber of Commerce Xiping Huang also expressed their support and greeting for the event. The epidemic in Canada is still severe, but the care and warmth never stop, no matter when and where, the heart is still with the elderly.

The event has been strongly recognized by the community and the government. The elderly told the reporter, “During the epidemic, the elderly often feel helpless. This event gives warmth to their lives and makes them feel that society and the government have not forgotten them.” At the end of the ceremony, delegates and volunteers from various branches of NCCC received 400 of epidemic prevention supplies, and another 200 were later distributed to the elderly who did not receive them.

“At this special period, I think we can do more for the elderly to make them feel the warmth and care of society. It is estimated that we will give the elderly more than 60,000 Canadian dollars for free protective goods and daily necessities. I will speak out with my actions and really care for the elderly.” Mr. HaiFeng Bruce Yang, President of NCCC, said that the team of NCCC is preparing the second batch of warm delivery activities, the second batch of warm delivery activities mainly to the elderly to send food supplies such as rice, flour, cooking oil, gloves, and so on. As rice, flour, oil, and other materials are heavily weighted, NCCC will send them directly to the homes of the elderly through volunteers so that they can feel the warmth of the society without leaving home.

During the epidemic, NCCC will regularly organize various online activities, such as health preservation in Chinese medicine, Chinese QiGong, yoga, and painting to enrich the lives of seniors at home. NCCC also plans to carry out more diversified online activities, such as nutritional meals for the seniors, gardening and planting, handcrafts, Tai Chi, singing and dancing, etc., to provide various online courses and activities for the seniors so that they will not feel lonely and isolated at home.  NCCC will especially hire psychological counseling experts to provide online lectures for the seniors during the epidemic to help them reduce their worries during the epidemic, and also provide consultation and help on the financial management of seniors to prevent fraud and other topics. Finally, NCCC will continue to cooperate with the community and the government to organize more online activities and offline condolences to give more support and care to the seniors in our community.

(MP JEAN YIP)

(MP MAJID JOWHARI)

(MP BOB SAROYA)

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NCCC successfully held the 2020 Chinese New Year Gala

On January 3rd, New Canadian Community Centre held the 2020 Chinese New Year Gala at Dragon Legend Restaurant in Toronto. Before eleven o ‘clock, the lobby was crowded with more than three hundred people. It was full of joy. Nearly 20 guests arrived early, including MP Jean Yip, MPP Vincent Ke, Councilor Jim Karygiannis and Shelley Carroll, and the president of Tianjin China Alliance of Canada Pei-zhong Wang, dean of Ontario College of TCM Binjiang Wu, Canadian education union chairman Ying cao, the vice President of the confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian organizations Chen Tiancai, etc.

At twelve o ‘clock, the hosts Zhang Dunping, Zheng Lin and Wu Qiong announced the beginning of the party. After all stood and sang the national anthem of Canada and China, Bruce Yang, president of NCCC, delivered a brief and enthusiastic speech: warmly welcome all the guests, and sincerely wish the elderly of NCCC have a happy New Year! Then MP Jean Yip and MPP Vincent Ke had speeches with fluent Chinese blessing. Councilor Jim Karygiannis and Shelley Carroll greeted the elderly with “Hello” and “Happy New Year” in their newly learned Chinese. Wang peizhong, the president of Tianjin China Alliance of Canada, played a bamboo board to wish everyone and so on, which made us clap and laugh. Binjiang Wu, dean of Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Ying Cao, Canadian education union chairman, have witnessed the establishment of a fitness and pleasure platform for the elderly by NCCC. They have been working steadily for nearly 20 years. Therefore, they spoke highly of and praised the achievements of NCCC in their speech. After that, NCCC President Bruce Yang presented the letter of appointment to the newly hired members, and invited guests to take photos. Next, the elderly and the guests together, while having a dinner to taste delicious food and playing the draws for gifts, while appreciating the nearly 20 wonderful programs written and performed by the elderly.

After half past two, the host announced the end of the party. After the meeting, the elderly were much appreciated that NCCC organized this gathering, give consistent praise with gratitude.

This activity plays a very positive role for the elderly Chinese living in Canada. First, It has greatly enriched the lives of the elderly. Old people not only have great dinner, but also watch the wonderful performance which greatly reduced the feeling of loneliness. Second, consolidate homesickness, inherit Chinese culture, and make Chinese culture flourish in the garden of Canadian multiculturalism was the another key factor that making contributions to the diversity of Canadian culture. The performances include playing (flute flute), playing (violin and accordion), speaking (Tianjin Allegro), singing (male and female solo), dancing (Tibetan dance, classical water sleeve dance, square dance), walking (cheongsam show). Last but not lease, it enhances the love of Canada among Chinese elderly. Many elderly Chinese come to Canada to take care of their children and grandchildren. They enjoy the life in Canada. The activities organized by NCCC have greatly enriched the lives of Chinese elderly.

2020 Chinese New Year Gala was successfully concluded. However, the new Chinese will start from scratch – now step over from the beginning, and create a new glory in 2020!

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The New Canadian Community Centre (NCCC) holds Tea Culture Lectures

On July 8, 2019, the NCCC and New Echo TV jointly held A lecture entitled “A Cup of TEA free TEA culture for the elderly”, which attracted more than 50 senior citizens to participate.

In this lecture, Toronto tea art lecturer Meng Jun, as the instructor, shared a lot of interesting knowledge and cultural background about tea with the elderly present. The content of the lecture includes how to identify different kinds of tea, how to store different kinds of tea, how to brew different kinds of tea correctly, and the details that need to be paid attention to when drinking tea, etc.

Meng Jun started with the teacup in everyone’s hands and introduced tea to “only brew but not soak”. He gave a comprehensive and detailed explanation on the color and fragrance of different types of tea, and then demonstrated the correct way to make tea.

In the hot summer, everyone can drink a cup of tea prepared by Mengjun, which is fragrant and soothing.

From the registration stage of the lecture, it has attracted many old people to participate enthusiastically. They not only listened carefully, but also stood beside Meng Jun and observed her way of making tea.

And in the last free question and answer session, everyone actively participated in questions and discussions, and asked a lot of questions about tea culture. Ms. Meng Jun also patiently answered them one by one.

Through this lecture, the elderly learned a lot about tea culture and gained a lot from free tea culture lectures.