The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board is joining with several organizations to help provide a range of services to new Canadians.
Four agencies will establish offices at St. Michael’s Adult Catholic High School, the former Catholic Central High School on Tecumseh Road East at Mercer Street.
The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc., and Centre communautaire francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Catholic board, which will see each of them offer their services there.
Executive Director of Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc. Rose Anguiano Hurst says they’re going to be able to access the students at the school and offer supports to them.
“People come to our community with different kinds of experiences and challenges,” she says. “The ones we hope to reach out to are the ones that might be looking for their next steps. Especially if they’re in an adult learning facility like St. Michael’s, maybe looking for employment skills training or employment supports.”
Some of the specific services the agencies will provide include one-on-one meetings with clients, advice on settlement and integration issues, skills training for minority women, educational and settlement-related workshops, and information sessions that connect individuals and families to community resources.
Director of Programs and Development at the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County Daniel Beliciu says it’s a one-stop shop for those who need help.
“Windsor-Essex is always going to be a major hub for newcomers coming to Canada,” he says. “So, it’s making sure that they have those services, making sure that everyone that comes here has the opportunity to thrive. Ideally, we want them to stay in Windsor-Essex.”
St. Michael’s Principal Douglas Sadler says they have around 1,500 adult students, including 750 to 800 attending on a day-to-day basis. 70 percent of the students fall within the English as a second language category.
Sadler says having this hub will only improve opportunities for the students.
“It just makes it so much easier because for the average student to get here, it might be two buses and could be an hour and a half trip,” he says. “Now that they can get the services they need for Ontario Works, references, or a job opportunity or that sort of thing, it’s a one-stop shop.”
The WECDSB expects that these new offices should be operating by the middle of September, but more details will be provided closer to the expected opening.