“My name is Aya, I am originally from Syria. I am a newcomer to Canada and arrived in January 2021. I was previously living in China. I am 21 years old and so far I am enjoying Canada.

I was very nervous when I first arrived. When I was in China I wouldn’t see foreigners that frequently, so it was a culture shock to see so many different people from different backgrounds all in one place. 

I joined Together Project because I really wanted to make new friends and get assistance with getting to know the city better. It’s been amazing so far, the volunteers are really friendly and supportive. We have formed a book club, because I love reading, and we have settled on Love in the Time of Cholera for our first book this month.” – Aya

We are excited to share Aya’s Story of a Match, this update is the first of a series of updates from Aya over the course of her Welcome Group match with Together Project volunteers. Stay tuned to hear more about Aya’s journey.

Together Project is launching an education guide to assist refugee newcomer families in the Toronto and Peel regions in navigating the educational system. This document provides matched volunteers with training, resources, and guidance around addressing newcomer families’ unique challenges with regards to their children’s education. It includes an in-depth overview of how newcomers interact with the school system and the different challenge areas refugee newcomer parents may face when engaging in their children’s education.

This guide will help Welcome Group volunteers more effectively support newcomer families with a safe return to schools as part of the pandemic recovery. View and download the guide here.

In this episode Hanna speaks about her own journey to Canada and how volunteering with Together Project helped her meet new people, support other newcomers and find employment in Toronto. Listen on Spotify, ApplePodcasts or GooglePodcasts.

Pathways to Prosperity has featured Together Project as one of 25 promising practices in the immigrant settlement and integration sector. Promising practices are practices that have an objective basis for claiming effectiveness in achieving their stated aims and that have the potential for replication. Thus, promising practices are defined in terms of their effectiveness, which can be empirically measured as successful outcomes of the practice.

To watch Together Project staff talk about our work watch our video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIxwN3NSSRI

Anna Hill and Andrew Lusztyk, Co-Directors at Together Project, share updates about Together Project’s work on a new episode of the Impact Conversations podcast series. They talk about how we has adapted our Welcome Group program during the pandemic and what was learned in the process.

Moving to largely online connections has meant a significant increase in connections made and has taught our team about the potential and challenges of online matches. As things open up again, Together Project will be able to offer both online and in person matches aligned with people’s interests, available time and comfort with technology.

Listen to the episode here.

Remote Social Support for Government Assisted Refugees and Refugee Claimants” has been selected as a Promising Practice by Pathways to Prosperity (p2pcanada.ca). The project highlights promising practices in newcomer settlement and integration, sharing key features that can be replicated. Read the full report here. http://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2021/06/EN-MakeWay-Charitable-Society-Together-Project.pdf