Huron Welcome Hub for Newcomers Helps People New To Canada Find Jobs And Connect Socially
by Bob Montgomery
The Huron Newcomer Support Association was established in January 2024. It is made up of a group of volunteers who have been assisting Ukrainians to settle in Huron County since 2022.
The group involves several volunteers who are interested in helping newcomers with language skills as well as finding housing and employment for them. Patti Tasko is one of the volunteers and her focus is on communications. She says the group has partnered with Huron County Immigration Partnership and is now the Huron Newcomer Support Association. They started out focusing on newcomers from Ukraine but have now expanded their service to all newcomers in the county and they meet weekly at the library branches in Exeter and Goderich. Tasko points out it is not the intention of the Support Association to duplicate services that are already available, and there are a lot of them, but to connect newcomers with the agencies that can help them and then fill in some of the gaps so they can successfully settle in Huron County.
“The two services that the association organizes are transportation coordination, so they have a team of drivers that will sign up to help people, first of all to get from the airport to Huron County and then more regularly things like driving them to their job if they have one or a medical appointment and other things like that.” They also work with other groups like the Y to provide information about things like services available to help newcomers get settled, multicultural social events, local community events, donation of goods and services by individuals and service organizations as well as assistance available through the Newcomer Support Association.
A total of 51 immigrants and newcomers took part in weekly Conversation Circles at Huron County library branches in Exeter and Goderich in the past year. In Exeter, 26 newcomers and immigrants from Mexico, Ukraine, Brazil, Iran and India attended the circles and more have joined since. They get together every Wednesday evening at the library in Exeter and the informal conversation groups are an excellent way for them to get comfortable speaking English in everyday situations.
The system seems to be working. The newcomers are very happy to be here and Huron County residents are very kind and welcoming so they're enjoying their experience. The biggest problems for most of them are housing, transportation and finding a doctor and those are challenges everywhere, so they're generally very happy to be here.
