The Barrie YMCA is a federal government-funded organization that offers Immigration services among many other family and youth services to Barrie residents. The Immigration services department focuses on helping newcomers during their transition into Canada by connecting them with resources and organizations that will help them settle into their new communities and find healthcare, employment, housing, and many other living necessities.
The YMCA Immigration Services is there to act as support for newcomers and ensure they are getting access to the settlement services they need. The Barrie YMCA currently provides four programs that focus on helping newcomers settle and engage in their new community. The language program helps newcomers learn English and become fluent enough to read, write, speak, and understand the English language. There are different levels of the language class for beginners to advanced speakers. This class will help them reach the level four English needed for them to apply for citizenship in Canada and be able to engage with their community and find employment.
Their staff also assists newcomers in settling and adapting to life in Barrie and the surrounding Simcoe County areas. Some things they can assist with are completing immigration forms, providing information about social services, schools, and healthcare as well as making referrals to education, government, and community services. This program ensures that families and newcomers have received the connection to the resources and information they will need to be successful in beginning their new life.
In addition to their settlement program, they have also placed settlement workers in schools throughout Simcoe County to bridge the gap in education for newcomers and encourage them to engage with education. Workers will assist families and children to integrate into the school and community by helping them to get involved with their school through student council, sports teams, and parent council. They will also help provide translation during parent-teacher interviews and assist them in adjusting to their new school system.
Housing and settlement are the major points of concern for newcomers. They need access to things like healthcare, affordable housing, and employment services. Working with external community housing and social agencies is key to providing these services for the newcomers they serve.
Through their various programs, the Barrie YMCA immigration services department serves close to 1500 immigrants through their settlement services and 55 families in their school-based program. As you can see immigration services are in very high demand and the Barrie YMCA depends on its relationships with community-based services and organizations to help provide their programs and serve as many newcomers needing assistance as possible.
-The BDAR Team