This newsletter provides updates on the projects TCLIP is working on and information about upcoming events that we will be hosting. It serves as a platform to inform you about our latest developments, initiatives, and opportunities. 

In December 2023, TCLIP hosted the Growing Together: TCLIP Employment Forum, which brought to leadership candidates discussions around mentorship. The goals of this event were to provide an opportunity for newcomers and job seekers to empower themselves and build connections with mentors, mentees, and HR professionals to learn more about how inclusive mentorship can support their professional growth. The event also aimed, through a series of workshops, to help participants learn how to network and navigate the local job market, gain more insights on recruitment processes, understand transferable skills and be ready for a career shift, and discover how business plans can lead to business growth.  

Understanding the importance and value of inclusive mentorship, TCLIP announced at the event that it will, in partnership with the City of Coquitlam, launch an inclusive mentorship pilot program. This project aims to increase the professional growth of the City of Coquitlam's mentors and mentees from equity-deserving backgrounds through an inclusive mentorship program. Mentors will be able to support individuals from equity-deserving backgrounds by sharing their professional experiences and perspectives. While mentees will receive support on how to navigate their career journeys, have a better understanding of how the government sector operates, build connections, and grow their professional networks.

We have received many applications for the mentorship program, and we are currently working out the logistical details so the program can start soon. For more information about the mentorship program, visit our website:

“In my family, red eggs are gifted to family members when a newborn arrives, as well as to celebrate and commemorate when the newborn reaches a month old, also known as a “full moon” (满月). The red egg is also given at important birthdays and weddings. The symbolism of the red egg for my family‘s culture is connected to new beginnings. The red colour expresses good luck, good births and good beginnings. My migration journey has been a red egg in the making.“

What do eggs represent about our migration journeys? What does it mean to relocate and experience an identity rebirth? How can we cultivate hope and belonging through new experiences?

Join artist and facilitator Luna Aixin (they/them) in a casual art-making and discussion workshop about migration journeys, remembering our cultures and stories, and cultivating hope, resilience and new beginnings.

Luna will guide you through this experience to share their migration and resilience stories and their relationship with their cultural practice of using “Red Eggs” to symbolize hope, resilience, new beginnings, and good luck. We will work with the idea of eggs and birth to relate and find meaning with our stories of struggles and strivings so that we may find ways toward a hopeful future.

This event is open to immigrants and refugees. If you have requests to make your workshop participation experience enjoyable for you, please contact Bita Rezaei at bita.rezaei@success.bc.ca, and we will do our best to meet your needs.

Bio:
Luna Aixin: Luna is a multiracial, non-binary, neurodivergent, disabled settler, community planner, facilitator and artist with ties to Southeast Asia, specifically Nusantara cultures and Pacific Islanders. As someone who was born into a colonized society, Luna has been researching through imagination, learning and understanding ways of being that are decolonial and “kampong-like" - accepting, caring, inclusive, celebratory and supportive of each other. As a neurodivergent person, Luna loves multimodal ways of creative expression and experiencing the joy of witnessing others “play with imagination” on “very serious matters”. They work with local governments, non-profits, community organizations and personal projects through GaGiNang Productions (自己人创作) on ways to create equitable, just and safe systems and practices that can better serve our communities. They currently reside on the stolen and unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.


Event Information:
Date: Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (PST).
Location: Coquitlam Public Library, City Center Branch (1169 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam, BC V3B 0Y1).

Join us to celebrate two years of a transformative journey of learning, empathy and community building with the Anti-oppression Capacity Building Project.  

This event is an opportunity for project participants and community members to come together and reflect on our collective achievements and future goals in integrating an anti-oppressive lens into the services we provide.

• Celebrate Endings and Beginnings: Join other service providers to celebrate the conclusion of the Anti-oppression Project and look forward to the journey ahead. 
• Reflect on Achievements: Learn from the highlights of our research and training initiatives, acknowledging the positive impact we can make in the settlements sector. 
• Continuous Learning: Reflect on the ongoing learning journey that anti-oppression work requires, share best practices and lessons learned for the future. 

Event Information:

• Date: Friday, March 8, 2024.
• Time: 10:00 am - 2:30 pm (PST).
• Location: Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam, BC  V3B 7Y3).

 
We are currently in the process of finalizing details for the event, and we will provide the link to the registration form soon. Stay tuned!

The Tri-Cities Community-Based Planning (TC CBP) Project embarked on its journey in January 2021. The aim of this project is to explore how a community-based planning and funding approach could lead to the development and delivery of more effective and responsive services for newcomers. The two-year project is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Representatives from 20 community stakeholders in the region, including settlement organizations, municipal governments, health authority and other community organizations, participated and shared their expertise and knowledge in identifying local priorities in the sector and co-designing the plan. Also, newcomer representatives residing in Tri-Cities were invited to join the conversations in the co-design stage to ensure that the process is centered around newcomers’ needs in the community.

TC CBP conducted 5 workshops in building the community’s new funding model with the input provided by the project participants. The summary of processes and findings were presented at the last TCLIP Community Forum in November 2023. The event attendees included Representatives from organizations that support newcomers in their work and community members who have not been engaged in the co-design process. It provided an opportunity to get feedback on the project and input from the broader community. The final report will be released and available on TCLIP website in March 2024.

For more information, please contact Jackie Hong at jackie.hong@success.bc.ca. 

In our last Community Forum, we also presented findings from our research on the needs and challenges of LGBTQIA+ newcomers in the Tri-Cities and their sense of belonging in our community. With funding from IRCC, this project was launched last year to explore the service needs, usage, and experiences of newcomers belonging to a gender or sexual minority in the Tri-Cities. This research project aimed to engage the voices of those with lived experience in the research development process, and to create safer spaces for LGBTQIA+ immigrants to identify how the community can support their needs that could lead to an increased sense of belonging.

Valuable insights have been gathered from this work, including findings about the unique needs and challenges of LGBTQA+ newcomers in the Tri-Cities on various aspects of their lives (migration status, housing, health, finance, and trauma), and how these factors affect their sense of belonging in our communities. The research concluded with a list of recommendations to support the inclusion of these groups of newcomers and improve our current services to be more inclusive. 

Calling all Tri-Cities-based service providers! The Tri-Cities Local Immigration Partnership (TCLIP) invites you to attend Charting the Journey: Strengthening Early Years Support Systems, a community forum for local service providers to explore the importance of culturally appropriate services and strengthen their maternal, early years, and mental health networks! Meet and connect with AIS BC, BabyGoRound, Douglas College, Family Smart, Fraser Health, Kinsight, Westcoast Family Centres, YMCA BC, and other community services helping families living in the Tri-Cities. 

Event Information:

• Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
• Time: 12:00 - 3:30 pm (PST).
• Location: Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam, BC  V3B 7Y3).

The event is free to attend, and a light lunch and refreshments are included. Pre-registration is required to attend - register by Monday, Feb. 5th at 10:00 am!

For additional immigrant and settlement related resources, visit our website www.tricitieslip.ca