Description

Interested in building more welcoming communities?

Together Project matches “Welcome Groups” of volunteers with refugee newcomer families for social support and assistance with settlement and integration.

Over 6 months, volunteers will work to address specific priorities identified by their matched household, through which both newcomers and volunteers will also have an opportunity to get to know each other. We make our matches based on shared interests, newcomer needs, and volunteer experience and skills.

Common areas of support include:
• practicing conversational English skills
• navigating services, like healthcare
• finding extracurricular activities for youth
• socializing and learning about Canada

Together Project provides training, guidance, and interpretation and translation assistance to help each Welcome Group maximize its impact.

Your individual time commitment is flexible, as the responsibility is shared among group members and Welcome Group members can divide up activities according to their availability and interests. We recommend a weekly interaction between Welcome Groups and matched newcomer families, which means that most volunteers dedicate 3-4 hours a month to their match. These interactions can take place online or in-person, when possible.

Given the responsibility of working closely with a refugee newcomer household, we’re looking for applicants who are organized, sociable, and committed to helping welcome newcomers to their community.

Volunteers can sign up as individuals or as groups (with friend, family members, and colleagues). Individual registrants will be connected to other volunteers to form Welcome Groups, based on their skillset and interests. If signing up as part of a group, please remember to indicate the names of other registrants you’d like to be in a Welcome Group with.