Arriving in a new place, learning a new language and developing a sense of community can be an overwhelming process, so the Welcoming and Inclusive Communities Workplaces Program (WICW) was recently formed to help.
As part of the WICW initiative, a series of community workshops are being held this spring in neighbourhoods across Squamish to talk about what makes this a welcoming community and to find areas for improvement.
Led by Capilano University, a final community-planning meeting is set for Thursday (June 18) from 9 a.m. to noon at the university's Squamish Campus in room 108.
"Our goal is to build on the work that is already happening. We are discovering tat Squamish is actually a very welcoming place," said Kathy Coyne, Capilano University community development and outreach faculty member. "We hope to get a broad cross section of people to the meeting in order to develop and identify some strategies."
Squamish is one of 10 communities throughout British Columbia to take part in the program. The workshops explore themes related to multiculturalism, the elimination of racism and supporting welcoming and inclusive communities.
Coyne said the idea is to coordinate key sustainable partnerships and collaborations with diverse groups and stakeholders to work towards achieving a common vision around fostering welcoming and inclusive communities.
"This started as a provincially supported initiative which funds both the planning and implementation of plans to create more welcoming communities," she said. "In Squamish, a number of organizations came together to get this programs off the ground."
Capilano University has taken the lead in terms of facilitating the programs and the results have been very positive, said Coyne.
"We are finding that Squamish is very welcoming. We found residents and businesses to be very respectful and interested in newcomers. It is a good place for people to live."
A welcoming attitude is well established in Squamish, said Coyne, but there is always room for improvements.
"Our goal is to identify the gaps and the services needed to make Squamish even more welcoming."
These improvements could include partnering local non-profit organizations with cultural groups as well as the creation of community forums and increased public education.
The upcoming community meeting is also a chance to tell stories. Coyne said she hopes recent immigrants will come to the meeting and share their experiences of arriving in Squamish.
"I don't know what our strategies will look like but they might revolve around trying to find ways of enhancing or consolidating services so they are more accessible to newcomers."
In tough economic times, creating new programs is often challenging but, Coyne said, it is often possible to improve on existing resources. She said finding new and better ways of working together often does not cost money.
"The good news is people do find Squamish to be a welcoming community and building on that is a huge part of this process. This program came to Squamish because people saw it as an opportunity to build on the work already happening."
