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YReach Settlement/YMCA Immigrant Services

Who’s in the Spotlight?

Our Spring 2023 Spotlight is YREACH Settlement/YMCA Immigrant Services, which provides place-based settlement and languages support to Immigrants, Refugees, and their families who are new to communities outside of Halifax Regional Municipality.

The team works in close partnership with the Valley Community Learning Association (VCLA), sharing office and workshop space, a commercial kitchen and community garden. YREACH and VCLA both offer English as a Second Language training and classes.

VCLA also supports newcomers who are pursuing their GED or other certifications and offers many community inclusion opportunities for newcomers to the Valley region.

There are YREACH Settlement staff and services in 11 rural communities throughout the province.

Details:

To learn more about YREACH Settlement/YMCA Immigrant Services, read our Q & A with Kathleen Novelia.

What is one program your organization offers that you wish more people knew about?

There are two that I can think of right now:

Our partnership with with Judy Lipp from Flying Squirrel Adventures. They are also an award centre for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

This is a global award program that challenges, empowers and recognizes the amazing things young people can do outside of the boundaries of formal education.

The award requires significant commitment and perseverance to achieve, is internationally recognized and connects youth to other Award Participants locally and abroad. It empowers youth skills to uncover untapped leadership potential and hidden talents, to advocate for themselves, and the confidence and experience needed to apply for future bursaries and scholarships.

Traditionally access to this award program has been somewhat limited to well- resourced and connected youth. We are committed to ensuring this award is accessible to newcomer youth and youth with barriers as it provides a real steppingstone towards future opportunities. If a youth we work with is interested, engaged, and willing to persevere in their pursuit of the award we will do everything we can to support them to work through the program and achieve the award.

The second is our Learning One-Nighter Speaker Series.

At VCLA Community Hub, there is a weekly community supper on Tuesday nights. We have partnered to develop a speaker series that occurs directly after the dinner.  

Currently, the topic of the series is gardening. The speakers are all volunteers from the community with expertise about the topic and knowledge to share. Newcomers and locals benefit from learning together and learning from people who live in their own community.

VCLA also has a community garden spaces so if people are inspired by what they learn there is the opportunity to get involved with the community garden this summer and do some growing of their own.  

What have been the main challenges your organization has faced while trying to meet the needs of the community you serve?

Housing. This week I have 2 people who left the Valley region due to housing shortage. We’ve had people get set up with work but then they were not able to find affordable housing.

When we set up employment opportunities for our immigrant clients, we try to work employers who are kind and supportive, and who understand the challenges our clients face. Clients are often still learning to speak English and are looking for work that can help them get a footing in the community while paying for basic needs. They are often willing to work entry-level or take undesirable jobs that need to be done, and employers need people who can do those jobs.

However, with housing prices as they are, this puts a lot of pressure on small or mid-sized employers who we hope to partner together. Employers are aware that their employees depend on them. It’s a lot of pressure. We have even had employers offer to subsidize some of the housing costs of an employee so that the employee can stay in the area and work. While this can be helpful for stabilizing housing needs, it also means that the income is going to a landlord, not to the employee. We can’t ask these small employers to carry the burden of paying a living wage, they can’t afford it.

And the high cost of housing means that everything else becomes more expensive. If someone is paying 30% –in some cases more than 40%– or more of their income on housing, suddenly food becomes very expensive and unaffordable. Stress levels go up. Newcomers are already dealing with very high levels of stress, especially as they are learning to communicate in the language of their community.

Bigger companies are willing to pay higher wages and can provide a great deal of financial relief to our clients. Those companies are often much less flexible in terms of how the scheduling works because majority of the positions are unionized. However, we have seen some that would work with us to provide English classes, pay for professional translators, and help with housing as much as they can.

We’ve had some incredibly supportive employers who are willing to work with people that have very low English skills and offer the opportunity to learn on the job. They will take employees out to events to meet other people and support social inclusion. But when people can’t find or afford housing, it just puts pressure on everyone.

There is just not enough affordable housing in the Valley region for someone who is starting from zero. Cooling off the pressures of housing would give everyone a lot of relief, including employers, they have a lot of pressure to support people to be able to afford a place to live.

How is your organization looking to grow or expand in the future?

We try to be responsive to the communities we serve so you never know what might happen next!

What are some ways that people interested in your organization can get involved or otherwise support your work? 

Volunteer with us, there is always lots to do! Show up to an event in the community and get to know some of our wonderful clients we are working with as they are finding their way in our community.

Also supporting the newcomer vendors at the market is a great way to directly support people:

When Newcomers can sell their food and share their skills with the community it is very empowering. It is also educating others about their culture. It is mentally empowering. It gives some stability, connection to their own knowledge and are offering a contribution to the community.

The road at the beginning takes an enormous amount of perseverance, it hits a large number of our client’s self-esteem really hard.

It can be very frustrating to not feel understood. It really takes a toll on a person’s mental health because clients may feel withdrawn due to the language barrier. They may not be able to express themselves and may feel like everyone Is performing at another level in a society that functions nearly completely in English.

This may create some confusion and it is so important to have patience for all parties. Having employment where you have a little piece of you that shines and people complement your work, it helps things lift spirits and things become more rewarding. You feel like you are seen for who you are, it’s empowering.

We always say to our clients, do what you need to do to pay the bills, but always do something that you love. Being seen and having some economic empowerment is really gratifying. At the markets people get to know the vendors, and when the vendors don’t show up people notice and ask where they are and how they are doing. Being a vendor helps build community, it means a lot. But it takes a lot of work, effort, and dedication to start and do well with a new business. We do our best to support them on their journey.

We offer food safety training and bring people to the farmers market, introducing them to as many people as possible, helping them feel comfortable.  Our services are very individualized to a person’s needs. We offer workshop series to help prepare people to become a business owner and vendor in Nova Scotia.  We also connect people to local employers. We try to connect people with supportive employers and try to find work in people’s area of interest. Sometimes it’s just that need to make some money and get going financially, get their feet under them, and they will have different goals to work towards in the future, so we support them with that as well.

Do you have a story you would like to share that demonstrates the impact of the work you do at your organization?  

There’s so many! One that comes to mind is a gentlemen newcomer who has been volunteering regularly at the community supper.  I (Kathleen) went to a local friend’s thanksgiving BBQ event, and this gentleman was there too!  He was invited as a guest of someone who he had gotten to know through the community supper.  This to me was true social inclusion.

At first, this same person wouldn’t participate in the opening circle for the community supper because of his accent and concern that he would not be understood. But he kept showing up, and now he is comfortable enough to participate actively and to talk about what needs to be done to prepare for the event. 

He is working at manufacturing, but recently got a paid gig to do catering for a brunch for some temporary foreign workers. He is from the same country as they are, and knows the food, so can prepare a brunch with familiar, homey food for the workers.

So, he is now using his skills to support others to feel at home and comfortable.

Is there anything else you would like us to know about your organization?  

YREACH Settlement supports rural Nova Scotia, just like across the province, in our area settlement and Employment staff are all super passionate to cater to individual needs. We are doing settlement, occasional crisis support, housing, employment services and education all at once!

When you have all of your basic needs met – a home, a job, some social support, to be able to aim for a peaceful life is a real privilege. It’s such a beautiful thing to be aware of it and do the best we can to be aware of that privilege we have.

About Spotlight:

The mission of the Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division [CMHA NS] is to ensure all Nova Scotians experience good mental health and well-being.

We recognize that our mission is broad, and that we cannot and will not achieve it alone.

To better meet the mental health needs of all Nova Scotians we are connecting with organizations that are reflective and supportive of Nova Scotians’ diverse experiences, identities and histories, and contribute to the overall well-being of our province with the goal of using our digital platforms to highlight the work of these organizations, increase awareness and help more Nova Scotians get the help they need.

Questions?

Contact Lindsay Miller at [email protected]

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