Royal City residents are invited to help newcomers feel more at home in the community. And a new program is starting to make it easier.

New Westminster Community Gateway is a demonstration project of the welcoming and inclusive communities and workplaces program. The program will be administered by the Lower Mainland Purpose Society for Youth and Families.

"We are at the early stages," said program coordinator Borjana Slipicevic. "We are working hard at promoting it and creating community connections. It takes time. There is a lot of interest, not only in the refugee and immigrant populations but in the general public."

The program will see local volunteers visiting newcomers, welcoming them to the community, helping them to express their needs, find appropriate services and develop connections. It's meant to serve as an entry point for newcomers to the city, offering guidance, referrals and assistance.

"After our volunteers complete their training, we will connect them with newcomers who ideally share their first language," Slipicevic said. "That is how we overcome that obstacle."

In some cases a shared language won't be possible, so they'll try to match people without good grasp of the newcomer's culture. The program won't exclude anyone who is motivated and wants to participate.

"We are trying to connect them to meeting for a few times," Slipicevic said. "We are not trying to create mentoring relationships. We want people to be as independent as possible."

That could include helping newcomers obtain the information that's most relevant to their needs, whether it's documentation in Canada or school and childcare information.

"There are already some existing host and mentoring programs. We would refer them. We will have information about all those programs in the community that are available. We will not only inform people about services. Our volunteers will actually go to places with the newcomers," Slipicevic said. "In many cases people have family here who help them through that. For those that don't we are here."

Before their assignments, volunteers will participate in a full training program that includes topics such as employment, childcare, taxes, heath care, education and more.

It will also include the development of communication skills, active listening and positive conflict resolution.

New Westminster Community Gateway is recruiting volunteers for the upcoming training sessions.

"We hope to inspire the whole community to give our newcomers an advantage of a local helping hand," said Dawn Embree, program director at the Purpose Society.

"We invite all New Westminster residents to refer newcomers they know to our program."

Connecting with newcomers can be a challenge, said Slipicevic, noting some newcomers are hesitant to access various services offered in the community or may not visit places where they can read newspapers or find brochures about the program. The program welcomes referrals from neighbours who may have met someone new in the neighbourhood.

"We will start hosting open houses twice a month for volunteers and newcomers," she said. "It will be happening every second Friday. We would like to give them the opportunity to socialize a little bit. It would be open to the public."

Members of the general public or people who may be interested would be welcome to attend. The first drop-in will take place on Friday, April 9 from 2 to 6 p.m. at 720 12th St.

"We would like to have people coming from different cultures. We would like to try and make it a little bit fun," Slipicevic said. "This will be an opportunity for volunteers and newcomers to meet, as well as to meet staff from other programs. We will have people coming from other community groups. It's a good place to talk about resources, to access other services."

New Westminster Community Gateway is one of two programs offered at the 12th Street office. Newcomer Youth Connections is also being offered by the Purpose Society at that location.

"Both are for newcomers," Slipicevic said. "The other program is for newcomer youth who drop out of school and come here for lifeskills and ESL classes."

A recent report to city council included some statistics about the changing face of New Westminster: 31.7 per cent of the city's population are immigrants; 29.6 per cent of the population have visible minority status; 23.1 per cent of immigrants have less than five years of Canadian residency; 46.8 per cent of immigrants speak a language other than English; and 3.17 per cent of the population report having aboriginal identity.

A survey done in 2007 as part of the Access New Westminster Immigrants Survey showed that new immigrants and refugees face a number of challenges, including finding suitable employment, learning a new language, locating adequate housing, securing child care, adapting to a new culture and values, and dealing with incidences of discrimination and racism.

Local groups have been working together to find ways to help make New Westminster a more welcoming and inclusive community, one where newcomers choose to come and is inclusive so those people want to stay. The province approved more than $365,000 for projects in New Westminster, including the New Westminster Community Gateway (formerly known as the Welcome Ambassadors program), a newcomers' guide to New Westminster and an immigrant mentorship program.

For more information about the program, call Slipicevic at 604-889-2672 or drop by the office at 720 12th St.

tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com