Community Contacts & Partnerships
Scenario: Your refugee claimant student approaches you after class and tells you that they are experiencing food insecurity — would you know what to do to help, or where you could send them? What if a student lacked a home Wi-Fi connection, or needed to borrow a laptop to access your online class? Or confided feelings of trauma, distress, or self-harm? Teachers may not offer expertise in these areas, but they do act as important, trusted points of contact for vulnerable clients. Being able to refer students to appropriate supports and resources could make a huge difference in their lives and improve their chances of successful settlement and survival.
Consult with your organization’s support staff to help fill out the Community Partnerships log on the following pages with community contacts to which you may be able to refer students in need of various forms of supports. These supports may prove crucial in helping vulnerable refugee claimants access much-needed services.
Field Trips & Guest Speakers
Research indicates the importance of a collaborative approach to client support, as well as refugee claimants’ need for more support in forming community bonds. If students are introduced, for example, to their organization’s employment counsellor within the controlled environment of the classroom, they are much more likely to follow up and pursue much-needed 1-on-1 support outside of class. The same is true for important community spaces such as public libraries and community centres, which may offer newcomer services, tech support, free access to computers, Wi-Fi and printers, as well as provide a sense of safety and community involvement. Teachers are recommended to make a special effort to help students forge these kinds of connections in the classroom, so that they gain comfort and familiarity accessing them in the real world.
As you begin to make contacts for guest speakers and field trips, keep track of these in the Field Trip and Guest Speakers Log on the following pages, so that you can more easily plan these special events in the future and help students make valuable community connections beyond the classroom.