Meet Negar. She is the Volunteer of the Month for January and is currently a volunteer at the Legal Clinic.
Negar (Nita) Heidari was born and raised in South Iran and moved to Canada with her family in the summer of 2010. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology and plans to continue her studies in order to pursue a career in healthcare.
Negar was looking for volunteer opportunities where she could help and support women when a friend encouraged her to contact CIWA. Negar has volunteered with many different programs at CIWA including the Pathways to Success Project where she provided mentorship to other immigrant and refugee women. As a volunteer with CIWA’s Legal Clinic, where she works with volunteers, clients, and lawyers to help clients feel heard and safe, complete and correct intake documents, and assist in lawyer-client communication by acting as an interpreter for Farsi speakers.
She enjoys volunteering at CIWA because she is able to utilize her personal experiences as a newcomer to help other immigrant and refugee women in a meaningful way. She enjoys hearing the unique stories of immigrant and refugee women, as well as appreciates learning more about other cultures. She is particularly inspired by the positivity that clients exude throughout their challenging settlement experiences.
CIWA is recognizing Negar as an outstanding volunteer this month because of her empathy, which enables her to better understand clients, as well as her strong work ethic.
In stressful situations, Negar remains calm, ensures that the client’s concerns are being heard, and works with her colleagues to problem-solve. She also takes initiative by training new volunteers and, despite a hectic work schedule over the past year, Negar has not sacrificed her committment to the Legal Clinic and managed to keep volunteering her time.
In her spare time, Negar loves to play the piano, go hiking, read thriller novels, and volunteer her time to meaningful causes.
Congratulations Negar for being Volunteer of the Month for January!
To learn more about volunteer opportunities click here.
To learn more about CIWA’s Legal Clinic click here.