There was a big void and heavy hearts at the North Central Family Centre in Regina Thursday.
A man who made a big difference in the lives of underprivileged and often neglected children and their families has passed away.
Ivan Amichand died of a heart attack on Monday at the age of 67.
He helped co-found the centre with Sandy Wankel about 10 years ago.
They have been through a lot, struggling at times to keep the centre open.
Wankel says she worried a lot, but Amichand never did.
“He always said, ‘No, God is going to provide for us,’” she says. “He had a tremendous amount of faith.”
Amichand was born in Trinidad and came from a background of poverty.
On arrival in Saskatchewan, he became a social worker and counsellor.
Once retired, Amichand devoted his life to the North Central Family Centre.
Wankel says he just wanted to make lives better.
“He had been given all of these opportunities in Canada and I think he felt a real obligation to give back and I think it is just in his makeup to say, ‘Let’s make the world a better place.’”
Children from nearby inner-city schools have put together a large hand-made memorial card which is on display at the family centre a few feet away from Amichand’s old office.
Wankel says everyone is doing their best to cope during this difficult time.
“We just had a nice cry together and the kids have made condolences and are writing cards for the funeral and I think that is very therapeutic for them. Ivan was a father figure to them and he was a mentor and father figure to many of the staff who never knew their fathers.”
Amichand helped inner-city children, their families, immigrants and residential school survivors.
He was generous to a fault, lending thousands of dollars to people even though he knew full well they could never pay him back.
Amichand also helped broken families heal.
Among them was the family of Alice Ewenin.
The Aboriginal woman from the Cowesses First Nation says she was an emotional mess when she met Amichand ten years ago.
She had substance abuse problems and was coming out of an abusive relationship while trying to turn her life around.
“He would always tell me if I felt like I was going to fall, he would be there to catch me and he has been,” she says.
Amichand also counselled residential school survivors free of charge and outside his regular office hours at the centre.
Funeral services will be held this Sunday at the Knox Metropolitan Church in Regina.
Ivan Amichand’s obituary asks friends to make a donation on his behalf to the North Central Family Centre.