Centre de santé communautaire de Sudbury Linking with the Francophone community

Centre de santé communautairede Sudbury

Linking with the

Francophone community

Who we are

• created in 1991

• main site in Sudbury

• 2 satellites – Chelmsford and Valley East

• 1 nursing station – Gogama

• Corner Clinic

Centre de santé communautaire de Sudbury

Our clients

• City of Greater Sudbury:– 50 000 francophones– 30% of the total population– concentration: Valley East, Chelmsford


2 ‘givens’

• Franco-ontarians have a right to access services in French

• Values, beliefs and habits are more effectively addressed in a person’s mother tongue, the language in which these were first internalized


Our target population

• youth

• seniors

• hard to reach (ie homeless)

• women


CHALLENGES

• franco-ontarians are not a homogeneous group

• geography• exogamy, assimilation and ‘bilingualism’• literacy• ‘oral’ culture• immigration• bi-culturalism


CHALLENGES

• reliance on interpersonal relationships

• practical by nature


Strategies

• discussion groups and humour• locals over outsiders• word-of-mouth• focus on social aspects to increase cultural identity• mindful of literacy levels• bilingual documentation• adapt, don’t translate• pro-active offer of service


How to connect?• it takes longer to establish relationships

• word-of-mouth (bring a friend)

• French language and immersion schools and their school boards

• English media

• social networks (no, not Facebook…well.…maybe)


How to connect?

• Establish partnerships with other groups and associations

• church bulletins

• inventory of community resources to see who is out there to connect with

• municipal counsellors for support on initiatives


St-Jean-Baptiste


Ste-Catherine


Documents

Centre de santé communautaire de Sudbury Linking with the Francophone community