We train our volunteers to provide safe, effective social support for refugee newcomers. To learn more, please download our manuals below.
This guide is to help volunteers navigate language practice sessions with newcomers. It’s based on best practices and experiences of Welcome Groups, tips from professional language tutors, and other language instructors we’ve interviewed across the GTA.
This manual empowers volunteers with an overview of the knowledge and tools most useful in providing social support to refugee claimants. The manual is divided into four sections: 1) the refugee claimant journey and the volunteer role 2) concepts of voluntary and humanitarian work 3) managing expectations and 4) how the program works.
The first manual in the series is designed to give volunteers a broad, comprehensive overview of volunteering with refugee newcomers, including understanding refugee resettlement, the role of volunteers in integration, understanding the settlement sector, and managing expectations.
The second manual was designed to support Welcome Group volunteers in helping connect refugee newcomers with available services for the first steps in their settlement and the longer journey toward durable integration, in a way that complements the role of settlement sector staff and caseworkers.
The third manual can help guide Welcome Group volunteers in helping refugee newcomers begin the process of finding work, access training and accreditation, understand the importance of volunteerism and civic engagement, and understand basic rights and responsibilities as next steps along the journey toward long-term integration.
The fourth manual will provide information concerning the “Month 13” transition from Resettlement Assistance Program support to other forms of social assistance following the initial 12 month settlement period.
To see a list of Welcome Group resources by city, please click on one of the following locations: