A new pilot project is aimed at helping newcomers to Windsor-Essex settle in.
The WE Value Partnership is led by the YMCA, Workforce Windsor-Essex and University of Windsor.
It is designed to help connect newcomers to programs and services to build on their skills — and hopefully find employment.
"Often times when we serve newcomers and we try to help them, we focus on their needs and their deficits, we don't always capture their strengths, their skills, the things that can help them succeed in Canada," says Regional Manager of Settlement and Integration Services at YMCA in Southwestern Ontario Hugo Vega.
He adds newcomers also face challenges such as language, new culture and having to navigate systems.
"Sometimes what we forget is that settlement process is incredibly hard," says Vega. "So if you have mounting challenges and barriers to get through, sometimes that can become discouraging and that road becomes harder."
The newcomer settlement assessment is taking place at the YMCA in Windsor at 500 Victoria Ave.
The new initiative is thanks to a $2-million funding grant over three years by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
It is estimated about 2,000 newcomers settle in Windsor-Essex every year.