I was born and raised in the western part of Sudan, in Darfur. This region has been really affected by long term war and conflict. But the unique thing about my area and Sudan is that there is so much community support. We have a special word for community, “Nafeer” that means “together-support”. We talk about Nafeer in the sense that together, we can work, build or do things together like support our local hospital, a school, build a home or even do some gardening. Everyone has a role to play; some people bring food and drinks; some people take care of the kids; but with community work, we are stronger together.

We would like to thank the Better Together Coalition, a new fund of the Toronto Foundation in partnership with Vancity Community Investment Bank, for their generous grant to Together Project. The Better Together Coalition was created to do two things: share the stories of frontline organizations addressing the crisis and encourage direct financial support. This grant will go towards our Welcome Group program to continue to offer remote social support to vulnerable newcomers in response to COVID-19. Learn more about the Better Together bi-weekly gatherings at https://torontofoundation.ca/better-toronto-coalition/ 

In a new COVID-19 series, Tides Canada is highlighting a number new approaches from their projects and programs. In this latest blog post Tides Canada interviewed Co-Directors Anna Hill and Andrew Lusztyk. Read about how Together Project is continuing to support newcomers with remote social support during COVID-19. Read more here.

In our new newsletter Together Project celebrates National Volunteer Week 2020, provides an update on remote social support, virtual volunteer orientations and training and much more. Read the full newsletter here.

Together Project’s role in keeping Canada inclusive is creating a structured opportunity and tools for newcomers and volunteers to connect. People volunteer for different reasons: to connect with others, to feel a sense of purpose, to get outside of themselves, to find gratitude, to develop new skills, to learn. It’s easy to think of refugees as the sole or even principal beneficiaries of the matches Together Project facilitates. But we see these social connections as equally beneficial to volunteers as to newcomers. It’s a two-way street. Read more here.

Together Project’s Co-Director’s wish to thank the the Colloquium on Refugees, Migrants & Statelessness and the Center for International & Area Studies, Weinberg College, Northwestern for inviting us to share our work with our co-hosts as part of a free webinar on April 22nd: Volunteer Engagement With Refugees: Remote Social Support Today.

You can find a recorded version of the webinar here. #TogetherHello