What if a community grew leaders

NYCH expanded our hybrid services, podcasts, and online resources to complement in-person programming, making settlement and employment support, youth engagement, financial empowerment, and community building more accessible. We also deepened our work with Afghan refugees, Ukrainian newcomers, and individuals in emergency accommodations due to the city’s overcrowded shelter system, ensuring they received urgent support.

A key highlight this year was our ongoing Truth and Reconciliation work, guided by a commitment to equity, justice, and dignity through education and relationship-building. We were honored to host an exhibit on the residential school experience and a series of learning sessions with Dr. Niigaan Sinclair. These events provided opportunities to learn and engage in meaningful conversations about the complex challenges facing Indigenous Peoples.

After more than 20 years at the Lawrence Allen Centre we moved to our expanded space at 255 Ranee Ave. Bringing much of our team back under one roof, this new space offers a welcoming environment for participants, a gathering place for partners, and a hub for community connection.

Our reach now extends beyond our traditional areas, with NYCH supporting people across the GTHA, Ontario, and beyond. To strengthen hybrid and virtual services, our new space includes a media room to enhance this work.

We also launched small innovation grants for staff to pilot new ideas. Art-based projects brought youth, newcomers, and seniors together, including a Lunar New Year celebration and a collaboration with Indigenous Elders to create dreamcatchers now displayed in our space. Other grants supported Filipino newcomer-led organizations and improved our Volunteer Program. These projects highlighted the power of creativity and connection in building community.

In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, NYCH joined the City of Toronto and other community-serving organizations to increase vaccine engagement in North York especially in harder-to-reach neighbourhoods. Settlement workers supported recently arrived Afghan communities with access to basic needs, employment, mental health support, settlement services, and offered specialized programming for women, children, and youth.

April 2021 to March 2022 was a year of expanding services, continued experimentation, and the beginnings of a new hybrid model of services at NYCH. We reduced barriers to technology among community members with device loaner programs, improved digital literacy with training and one-on-one support, and reduced social isolation through our online social and community groups. We adopted a new learning platform so community members could take courses online, at their own pace, in any location. This has made it possible for newcomers to access skills and knowledge training without taking away from time at work or with family.

The pandemic had a significant impact on NYCH and our community. Like most organizations, in March 2020, NYCH closed our physical offices, and all our staff and services went remote. We’re still offering most of our programs and services remotely today.

We adapted and expanded our programs to meet the new challenges of program delivery. We allocated more resources to financial literacy and empowerment services and switched our tax clinics to an online model.

With the support of resident leaders and volunteers, we partnered with FoodShare to provide Emergency Good Food boxes to residents in Lotherton, Neptune, and Lawrence Heights.

NYCH launched two new programs this year:

• “Canada Connects” addresses the isolation inherent in immigrating to a new country by welcoming Toronto newcomers with connections to volunteer mentors.
• “Journeys to Active Citizenship,” an innovative 5-year partnership project, develops civic engagement program models and curriculum tools to help settlement agencies foster active citizenship amongst newcomers across Canada.

We developed a digital literacy program to help bridge the digital gap in our communities. Participants and community members learn tactics to get more from online programs. We worked with funders, schools, and organizations to provide tablets and laptops to program participants.

Though the reasons we do our work and the day-to-day challenges we address have stayed the same, how we practice is ever-changing.

A recent example of evolution in our practice includes working with the Filipino and Arabic-speaking communities to identify new service models and opportunities for NYCH staff to learn about innovation and to practice using innovation tools.

Our Board of Directors and management team developed an aspirational, future-focused 5-year strategic plan. The plan embraces the trends impacting our society and the communities we serve.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, NYCH quickly decided to close our doors, shift to working remotely, and provide our programs and services online.

We used the significant challenges as an opportunity for experimentation and learning. We’ve learned how to run group programs, support newcomer English learners, and engage children and youth in an online model.

NYCH opened our new location at Ranee Ave. and Flemington Rd. in Lawrence Heights, which consists of 9,000 square feet of accessible space designed specifically for the needs of our organization and community.