Sadia Raveem: Raveem

Riverdale Immigrant Women S Centre Dept: For a while she couldn t even bring herself to talk. But with some courage and hard work, Raveem is now employed, living on her own and speaks with confidence, according to The Star. The move hasn t been easy. It involves not only diversifying funding and revenue sources but also throwing the doors open to the wider community and bringing in the small entrepreneurs and non-profits that will allow its new identity the Riverdale Hub to operate and becoming self-sufficient was the No. 1 priority for Sadia Raveem after she worked up the courage to leave her abusive husband. Holed up in a shelter and unable to speak English fluently, the Pakistani native could dream of only one thing: supporting herself. Over the past 30 years, the Riverdale Immigrant Women s Centre has helped Raveem and women like her make the transition from public assistance to gainful employment. Now it s looking to follow this path itself and transform from a provider of social services into an entrepreneurial hub. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.