“We’re trying to do our part to support newcomer youth in their transition into a new home, a new country, a new community,” says Mike Lally, manager of youth programs at DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society (DCRS).

DCRS aims to empower newcomers and other diverse communities so they can build the life they want in Canada. Their message is clear: everyone belongs here.

Their program, Youth Expressions!, is supported by a donation from United Way. It focuses on helping newcomer youth build resilience and self-confidence by creating a sense of belonging, and decrease stress with services currently being offered in a virtual setting due to the pandemic.

Fighting isolation

“A lot of these kids were feeling isolated, so being able to continue to interact with their peers, [even when] it is online, has helped fill that void,” says Lally.

According to Lally, this is an opportunity for individuals to be able to express themselves in a way where they get to be appreciated for who they are. Youth Expressions! allows people to continue to be in an environment, even if it’s online, where they feel comfortable with the people they’re engaging with and don’t feel like they’re going to be judged for their background or ridiculed for mispronouncing words.

“We want to make sure our programs and services are meeting youth where they’re at, not where we want them to be,” says Lally. “We want it to be youth-led.”

Over 60 per cent of the newcomer population that makes Surrey their home are youth (between 13 and 24). To Lally, this staggering number further speaks to the need for services like his.

A safe space

“The whole concept of this program is to offer a safe organized platform for youth to connect and reconnect with each other while also learning strategies and developing transferable skills,” says Lally.

Lally worked alongside staff on the front line to understand the needs of different people, what they were interested in learning, and what they needed support with. Information gathered from interacting with youth through their DIVERSEyouth and Refugee Immigrant Specialized Experience (RISE) program, community focus groups, surveys, and informal discussion was used to determine where the gaps in services were and how to address them.

“Everyone’s experience is different so we try not to use a cookie-cutter model and approach,” says Lally.

Since some youth are coming from war-torn countries who have experienced trauma and some are from more stable environments, Youth Expressions! had to take a multifaceted approach to connect youth to the specific programming they needed. While helping people build on their language and literacy skills, Youth Expressions! also introduces them to art-based programming, allowing others to see what the world looks like through their eyes.

“We’ve had our challenges going virtual,” says Lally. “Since a lot of individuals don’t have access to the internet, devices, or may lack computer literacy, education has played a huge part on our end in order to support our clientele.”

Lally is hoping to further engage youth with physical literacy and provide programming for expressive arts, healthy communication, and leadership capacity building, to name a few.

Creating community

“The program helps me to connect and learn new things during this time so I would love the donors to keep supporting this program so the youth can benefit from it,” says Hea Nay Paw, a program participant.

For Paw, this program has helped him connect, learn, and converse with others during the pandemic. Originally from Burma/Myanmar, Paw became a refugee in Thailand at two years old and lived in a refugee camp for 14 years before coming to Canada in August 2019.

“I like that I can see my friends online and the volunteers and workers are understanding and help me feel safe in their learning,” says Paw.

Lally believes education is just as important for the community as it is for our newcomers so we can hopefully create a place where we’re building networks as opposed to separation.

“Our communities are made up of folks from all different walks of life, shapes and forms. It’s important to know and appreciate what we have and that’s the beauty of multiculturalism,” he adds.