Caledon South Asian Association proud to host first event, build community

By Zachary Roman

There's a new organization in Caledon dedicated to helping South Asian residents.

On April 18, the Caledon South Asian Association (CSAA), in partnership with Indus Community Services, hosted a “Spotlight on Services for Newcomers to Canada” event at the Southfields Community Centre.

Dr. Vikas Puri, Chair of the CSAA, was on hand at the event to share what the CSAA is all about.

He explained the idea for CSAA came from a talk that was held at the Rotary Club of Palgrave two years ago. A club member was doing a presentation on the South Asian community and explained it was at 10 per cent of the population and growing in Caledon; however, there was still a lack of services for the South Asian community.

Puri said there are culturally specific problems for South Asians in Caledon such as mental health, job hunting, issues related to settling, isolation and more. 

“It made me think, we should do more,” said Puri. “We needed to start something grassroots, even if it meant starting as a facilitator and helping guide people to established services in other communities that can help them.”

One such service is Indus Community Services, which provides settlement services for newcomers, programs for seniors, job services, health services and more.

Another reason Puri thought it was important to start CSAA was to raise awareness and understanding of South Asian culture, and begin integrating different multicultural groups.

The CSAA plans to start hosting events once a month all across Caledon, since they are now an affiliate of the Town. 

Hunar Kahlon joined the CSAA in January because of his desire to serve the community and make sure the South Asian community knows that services are available to them.

He said sometimes there can be a language barrier between people and services and that's something he'd like to work to address in the community.

The Spotlight on Services for Newcomers to Canada event was the CSAA's first major event where they were able to bring people together and connect different organizations. 

“Each time we do it, we will highlight a different organization,” said Puri. “This time, we highlighted Indus Community Services, since they already have all these programs for South Asians.”

The CSAA is putting out a call for volunteers right now, and Puri said any help short or long-term will make a big impact for the organization. 

“We're grassroots, we need whatever help we can,” said Puri.

For more information on the CSAA, those interested can visit caledonsaa.ca.