Care for Newcomers Annual Report 2022-2023

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Messages from the Executive Director and Board of Directors

Front Cover Girls Club (SNAP) program meets once weekly after school. They participate in activities at Care for Newcomers and in the community. The group allows girls to talk freely and openly without judgement, and to work towards building strong relationships among themselves and their Canadian peers.

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Language Instruction

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Community Engagement

Back Cover The Learn To Skate program is an annual event for newcomers. It is hosted by Care for Newcomers in partnership with The City of Red Deer, Hockey Alberta, RCMP, Red Deer Vipers Hockey and Red Deer Polytechnic. Each year we get more and more people from the community coming out to help volunteer at this event.

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Youth Settlement

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Red Deer

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Local Immigration Partnership (RDLIP) Financials

Message from the Executive Director and Board

of Directors

We sincerely thank all of you very much for your continued passionate support, whether as employee, volunteer, Director on our Board, funder, sponsor, or partner in the community!

—Frank Bauer, Executive Director

—Skipp Symes, Chair, Board of Directors

Last year was another year of change for many people around the world and our communities. We have moved into a post-pandemic world and have established new default ways to do our work. People are being invited to hybrid meetings because participants’ schedules make it difficult for them get together in person.

We continue to see a worrisome number of conflicts and humanitarian crises around the world. We are blessed to live in a part of that same world where we can welcome and support people who had to flee their homes. At the same time, federal and provincial governments are promoting the opportunities for economic immigrants and international students. With that, there absolutely is a growing need for settlement and integration support.

Our purpose continues to be a strong one. We help newcomers to become confident and integrate in an increasingly welcoming and inclusive community. Our core client support services have grown over the past year – English language training, youth settlement, translation & interpretation, group activities, community connections, volunteering, and mentorships. We continue to do our part in promoting this welcoming and inclusive community, through intercultural awareness training and events.

In total, this will help achieve the Care for Newcomers vision, that newcomers feel valued as contributing members of an inclusive Central Alberta.

Language Instruction

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I am most proud of my students and the progress they have made inside and outside the classroom.”

Teacher

Evening English classes provide opportunities to learn and meet other newcomers.

Learning English helps newcomers meet people, get jobs, and feel positive as they begin their new life in Canada. Different programs are available at a variety of times and days. Childcare is available in the daytime hours.

Care for Newcomers serves newcomers in Red Deer and surrounding Central Alberta communities. Classes are available for different skill levels. The language assessment and referral service, determines the appropriate English language program in our region, such as Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC), Alternative English as Second Language (ESL) classes, or more informal Conversation Groups.

Topics of discussion may include banking, healthcare, sports and recreation, employment, transportation, community events and more.

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LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION FOR NEWCOMERS TO CANADA STUDENTS

LANGUAGE ASSESSMENTS AND REFERRALS

ALTERNATE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE STUDENTS

FOUNDATIONS FOR WOMEN STUDENTS

Community Engagement

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The happiness and joy they have expressed at being in Canada is contagious. They have taught me to be more mindful and appreciative of my life here, a place where I was simply ‘lucky’ to have been born. I was not aware so much good work was being done, even within my own small city. I have been living in a bubble!“

—Volunteer Conversation Group Leader

Connecting newcomers to our community through culture and inclusivity

We provided multiple programs to create more welcoming and inclusive communities and to increase newcomers’ sense of belonging.

We delivered intercultural awareness workshops for schools, businesses, community organizations and the general public. We held small and large events with multiple collaborations and connected newcomers via employment mentorships, group activities, conversation groups and one-on-one matches between newcomers and Canadians. As always, impressive volunteer support was vital to the success of all programs, including

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INTERCULTURAL PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS

translation and interpretation services, which has seen a dramatic increase in demand.

Our largest event of the year was Community Power of One, with many partners and attendees. The aim of this annual event is to build awareness around the history and ongoing issue of racial discrimination, and to create more harmony between different cultures and ethnicities. This year, in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, many sessions

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ATTENDANCE ATTENDANCE 10 MAJOR EVENTS

Key Note Speaker at The CommUnity Power of One Event

were delivered by Indigenous and Metis people, ending with led sharing circle.

Some other events we were

Alberta Culture Days

s Festival

Community Gardens

Human Rights Day

Indigenous Youth Conference

International Potlucks

Mother Language Day

Volunteer Recognition

Youth Settlement Immigrant Youth Program

“Convincing our immigrant youth that volunteering is fun and they will feel so powerful when sharing about their culture. I kept meeting with them and picking them up to go to different presentations, and now they love to volunteer with my program.

Settlement Practitioner, Youth Public Awareness

In every new country, there is a new experience. An exciting journey awaits school-aged children and youth arriving in Central Alberta, Canada. Youth Settlement works to take and make this overwhelming experience a welcoming home.

SNAP Youth Program

Weekly activity programs

At-home projects

Youth Night Activities

Special events and drop-in activities

Summer Programs

Newcomer Orientation Week (NOW)

English classes for youth

Youth Settlement Practitioner in Schools

Assessment & Registration

Culturally Sensitive Counseling

Family Support

Practical Guidance

Referrals & Casework Advocacy

Weekly activities bring young newcomers together to learn, have fun and meet others.

INCREASE IN ATTENDANCE

440 41% 158 20 18 NEWCOMER YOUTH (AGES 6-19)

AFGHAN YOUTH NEW TO RED DEER UKRAINIAN YOUTH

Red Deer Local Immigrant Partnership

Care for Newcomers is the fiscal agent of the Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership, established in 2015.

This year, the Proud to be Your Neighbour anti-racism campaign continued to be a key focus point. By sharing personal stories, we emphasized that it’s basically up to all of us to help create a community that is more prosperous, safe and just for everyone. Yard-signs, media presence and events in the community were all part of the campaign. More research was started with support from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to identify the available and missing training and support services.

The Workplace Inclusion Charter has been completed and is ready to be launched. This will help employers to successfully create an inclusive environment that attracts and retains skilled newcomers needed for future growth.

A literature review by Red Deer Polytechnic students aims to get more insight into newcomer health conditions and make a proposal for in-depth research of newcomers’ needs and gaps in the current health care system.

The available professional interpretation & translation help line by Alberta Health Services was successfully promoted to many healthcare and settlement service providers.

Financial Summary