Program gives newcomers a springboard for life in their new home
Ma Rong with son William and husband Hanming Wang.
Helping newcomers — particularly women who often find themselves isolated at home with young children — to fulfill their potential, is the goal of the Immigrant Women Integration Program (IWIP), offered by United Way agency, Centre for Community Learning and Development.
The year-long program gives newcomers the skills to make their way in their new country. Understanding the human rights code, making use of social services and agencies, personal management know-how and leadership training are all elements of the program. When complete, the trainees are able to take their skills back to their communities, where they often sit on boards of local agencies and ultimately help others.
Not long after Ma Rong arrived from China in 2005, she was referred to the IWIP program. When she graduated in summer of 2006, she was armed with new knowledge that enabled her to lead workshops on subjects such as human rights, elections and child development.
She is now employed by the Centre for Community Learning and Development and grateful for the experience. “I’m a real people person and when I moved to Toronto, I wanted very much to help people in my new community,” she says. “This program helped me to do that, and to find the right direction to further my career.”
Ma Rong is just one of many Toronto newcomers who have benefited greatly from settlement programs like the one offered by this United Way agency. With your continued support, newcomers will continue making the most of life in their new country.
Read Ma Rong's story in the Toronto Star—"From isolation to independence", written by Jennifer Brown. Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services.