“It took me two buses, two trains and another bus to get to and from work,” writes Dorothy Cornelius in a book entitled, Our Lives, Our Heritage: Stories from African- Caribbean-Canadian Seniors in Region of Peel.

Cornelius is one of 38 seniors featured in the book, which is being launched on February 29, 2020, by Roots Community Services Inc.(formerly United Achievers’ Community Services), a Brampton-based charitable organization.

The launch, which is co-hosted with the Brampton Senior Citizens Council, takes place at Flower City Seniors Centre, 8870 McLaughlin Road, Brampton, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The idea for this book was born when a group from the Healthy, Active & Wise Seniors program at Roots Community Services (RootsCS) were reminiscing about their various countries of birth and telling stories of their experiences in Canada.

“Their stories were so rich in content and lessons learned, it was proposed that we capture them to pass on to current and future generations,” says Angela J Carter, Executive Director, RootsCS. “We applied to and received a grant from the New Horizon for Seniors Program to write and published the book and this is the result.”

The storytellers give readers a glimpse of their lives in Canada –their struggles, their successes – and the contributions they made in their adopted homeland. They wanted to produce a documentary but was unable to complete this aspect.

The book was published by FriesenPress (http://bit.ly/2HKPBo2) and is also available at Amazon.com.

About Roots Community Services Inc

 Roots Community Services Inc. (RootsCS) is a multi-service charitable organization that provides culturally-relevant programs and services to inspire residents in the Region of Peel, primarily from the Black and Caribbean communities, to make positive changes in their lives and within their communities.

With offices in Brampton and Mississauga, the organization runs a number of programs including afterschool for children from age 6 years; an entrepreneurship mentoring program for youth; counselling for youth, women, couples and families, and various activities to keep seniors connected and reduce their feelings of loneliness.

For more information, contact:

Angela J Carter, Executive Director, 416-433-1378, angela@rootscs.org