Healthy Communities • YMCA Newcomer Programs
The YMCA’s award-winning project that’s helping newcomers become leaders
20 June 2018 - by YMCA of Greater Toronto
By: Yonatan Kiflu
Sylvia works as the Outreach and Community Relation Coordinator for the YMCA Newcomer Information Centre (NIC). She spends her days connecting newcomers with the services they need to settle here in Canada, organizing outreach activities, building partnerships with other providers, and spreading the word about NIC services in our community.
Her latest accomplishment? Sylvia’s accepting the Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership (TSLIP) Collaboration Award on behalf of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. The Collaboration Award has been awarded annually by the TSLIP since 2015 in an effort to recognize outstanding partnership and collaboration efforts on the part of member organizations. This is the 3rd time the YMCA has won this award since 2015. It’s thanks to exceptional staff like Sylvia that these important partnerships are currently helping thousands of newcomers make Canada their home.
Right now, five of these Toronto South member organizations are hard at work creating and sharing tools that will help newcomers actively contribute to their communities. Together, they’ve developed a seven-session curriculum designed to help newcomers recognize the oppression and inequalities that can prevent them from participating fully in Canadian society, and to provide them with the skills and resources they need to overcome those barriers. The program, called “Being an Active Community Leader,” culminates with presentations from each participant, where they share their plans for advocating in their local community using the tools they’ve acquired.
Sylvia is one of the determined members of this group that’s passionately supporting this exciting new curriculum. As a team, these collaborators can reach more people in more communities with more effective services: the YMCA contributes our many years of experience supporting newcomers, and we know we can make an even bigger difference when we learn from our community partners. All of our work is made possible thanks to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which provides the funding NIC needs to offer settlement support at no cost to newcomers.
Learn more about NIC to get the details on all the ways the YMCA helps newcomers receive assistance, services, and support as they settle in Canada.
Sylvia works as the Outreach and Community Relation Coordinator for the YMCA Newcomer Information Centre (NIC). She spends her days connecting newcomers with the services they need to settle here in Canada, organizing outreach activities, building partnerships with other providers, and spreading the word about NIC services in our community.
Her latest accomplishment? Sylvia’s accepting the Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership (TSLIP) Collaboration Award on behalf of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. The Collaboration Award has been awarded annually by the TSLIP since 2015 in an effort to recognize outstanding partnership and collaboration efforts on the part of member organizations. This is the 3rd time the YMCA has won this award since 2015. It’s thanks to exceptional staff like Sylvia that these important partnerships are currently helping thousands of newcomers make Canada their home.
Right now, five of these Toronto South member organizations are hard at work creating and sharing tools that will help newcomers actively contribute to their communities. Together, they’ve developed a seven-session curriculum designed to help newcomers recognize the oppression and inequalities that can prevent them from participating fully in Canadian society, and to provide them with the skills and resources they need to overcome those barriers. The program, called “Being an Active Community Leader,” culminates with presentations from each participant, where they share their plans for advocating in their local community using the tools they’ve acquired.
Sylvia is one of the determined members of this group that’s passionately supporting this exciting new curriculum. As a team, these collaborators can reach more people in more communities with more effective services: the YMCA contributes our many years of experience supporting newcomers, and we know we can make an even bigger difference when we learn from our community partners. All of our work is made possible thanks to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which provides the funding NIC needs to offer settlement support at no cost to newcomers.
Learn more about NIC to get the details on all the ways the YMCA helps newcomers receive assistance, services, and support as they settle in Canada.
