Northwest London Resource Centre: Empowering Newcomers, Building Community
Amani Radhaa, associate director of the Northwest London Resource Centre stands outside the site of their new location, which is still under construction and is expected to open to the public in the fall of 2023
Though the Northwest London Resource Centre (NWLRC) opened its doors to the community in 2002, it wasn’t until three years ago it started a new project to offer settlement services and supports to newcomers in the city.
You wouldn’t know that, however, by looking at the long list of resources NWLRC, located at the Sherwood Forest Mall on Wonderland Road North, now offers to immigrants living in the city’s northwest end since creating its settlement division in 2020.
The centre, for instance, offers supports such as orientation sessions delivered alongside community partners where immigrants can learn more about the Canadian culture and topics such as how to get access to healthcare or how to find a home to buy or rent.
Among the different group sessions also designed by NWLRC, there’s one that focuses on digital literacy, helping newcomers learn everything from how to create an email account to how to protect themselves online from fraud and scams.
The centre also offers supports to young immigrants navigating the Canadian education system, helping them know the requirements they need to pursue their dreams of post-secondary education.
The growing list of programs is in part a reflection of the big demand for newcomer services as London, and that portion of the city in specific, have continued to grow significantly over the last several years.
“Our whole program plan is, ‘How can we . . . integrate newcomers into the Northwest Community’ . . . because we know they are here; we know they have arrived because the Canada census shows it,” said Amani Radhaa, NWLRC’s associate director.
In fact, census data from 2016 showed neighbourhoods such as Fox Hollow and Sunningdale, located in NWLRC’s coverage area, had the largest number of permanent residents in London.
Since then, the city’s population has been growing dramatically, boosted in large part by immigration and making London the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Ontario between 2016 and 2021.
The growth has been so big, NWLRC began this year the process of renovating a new space that, while still located in the Sherwood Forest Mall plaza, will allow staff to better serve its clients. The new space is expected to open to the public in the fall.
“In our previous space, we didn’t have the capacity to have all the staff at the same time because we outgrew the space,” Radhaa noted.
NWLRC’s settlement services offerings are impressive.
But just as important is the fact that each of the programs the centre has developed has been the result of clients, working alongside NWLRC, identifying needs and gaps in services in the community, Radhaa said.
Their most recent addition, for instance, is a program called the Racialized Newcomer Women Program. Launched in April of this year, the goal of the initiative is to help women of colour overcome barriers to employment as well as help them learn about Canadian labour rights.
“It’s not just so (that women) are able to get hired but also maintaining employment,” Radhaa said.
All the programs are also part of a bigger goal for the centre – getting newcomers, once they have established themselves, to also give back to the community.
“But how do they give it back?” Radhaa said. “Volunteering . . . being a mentor to others . . . that’s how we can continue that cycle of welcoming other newcomers and supporting other newcomers.”
For more information about NWLRC and its services, you can visit their website at https://nwlrc.ca.