New Community Hub Brings Settlement Services Directly to Adult High School Students
Four local nonprofits are setting up shop in an adult high school where the majority of students are new to Canada.
The community center located inside St. Michael’s Adult Catholic High School (441 Tecumseh Rd. E.) will include the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, Women’s Enterprise Skills Training (WEST) of Windsor Inc. and the Center Communautaire Francophone Windsor-Essex Kent — all organizations that provide services to new immigrants.
Memorandum of Understanding Signed
Representatives from each organization and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday.
“The average student might take two buses to get here. The drive might take an hour and a half — but now they can get the services they need for Ontario Works, or references, or job offers, all in one stop,” Douglas Sadler, principal of St. Michael’s, told reporters.
Serving a Growing Newcomer Population
St. Michael has about 1,500 learners, including 800 day students, 300 who attend night school and hundreds who participate in virtual classrooms, Sadler said.
At least 70 percent of students are enrolled in the English as a Second Language program, which has grown “exponentially” in recent years. Many of them are new to the country.
The community hub, Sadler said, will make it easier for students in need of support to connect with community service providers.
Specialized On-Site Services
Specialized on-site hub services include one-on-one meetings with clients, consultation on settlement and integration issues, skills training for minority women, education and settlement workshops, and information sessions that connect individuals and families to community resources.
Daniel Beliciu, director of programs and development at the Multicultural Council, said that compared to past years, more newcomers to Windsor-Essex are staying in the community rather than moving away.
The new hub, Beliciu said, will ensure that “everyone who comes here has the opportunity to thrive.”
Expected Opening by Mid-September
The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board expects to have new offices with nonprofit partners up and running by mid-September. More details are expected closer to its opening.
“We reach out to the public as best we can, but being here in a well-known center like St. Michael’s and working with other partners for our organization plays a critical role in reaching clients who need our services,” said Rose Anguiano Hurst, executive director of WEST of Windsor Inc.
“If they need help with employment, or if they have specific settlement needs, or if they are facing personal, confidential issues related to women and gender-based violence, we have programs and support that can help with that too.”
