Newcomers Peer Support Group begins in Yarmouth, N.S.

YARMOUTH, N.S. — A Newcomers Peer Support Group that was launched in Yarmouth in January is getting lots of takers.

A pilot project supported by the Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division (CMHANS), the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, Southwest Employment Services, YReach and the Nova Scotia Health Authority, the new group has been several years in the making.

“This is a group we have been planning for a number of years,” says CMHANS executive director Karn Nichols. “It’s a pilot project that we are incubating in Yarmouth. I suspect there may be small pockets of informal gatherings happening across the province, however, I am not aware of anything that has been formalized the way we have in Yarmouth.

“In speaking with Elizabeth (Zavala Nunez, the settlement staff member of YReach/YMCA), this is a model they are excited about and are keen to replicate (in) other areas of the province. I believe there is potential to do just that, given the feedback we have had to date.”

The group meets every other Thursday in person at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Burridge Campus from 5 to 7 p.m. and is open to anyone who is new to Canada. The next meeting is Feb. 15.

“We know that newcomers in general have a unique set of challenges coming to a new country, let alone a rural area of that new country. Not only do they need to navigate the same challenges we do regarding housing and transportation, but they have to do it with no social safety net. Recent research suggests new immigrants are more depressed,” said Nichols.

“This depression happens for a variety of reasons. Newcomers are separated from family and friends, which would be their natural social safety net, so they feel a heightened sense of isolation and loneliness and lack of belonging – a collection of conditions that are considered a social determinant of health. In urban areas, it is much easier to find these communities, these places to belong, given critical mass. Not so in rural Nova Scotia.”

Nichols said in speaking with Livinus Numfor, a health promotion specialist for mental health and addictions at Nova Scotia Health as well as Zavala Nunez, who are the groups’ facilitators, “it became clear that there was a deep need in the Tri-County region to build this community. Nova Scotia Health and YReach, along with the support of the Mental Health Foundation, are terrific supporters of this wonderful initiative.”

The peer support group offers an opportunity for newcomers to connect, support each other, share stories, discuss strategies for solving problems and reflect on their experiences.

Need to know

The Newcomers Peer Support Group is designed to help participants:

• Improve well-being;
• Build self-confidence and social skills;
• Feel a sense of belonging; and
• Learn about community services and settlement resources.

Numfor, who lives and works in Yarmouth and is himself am immigrant to Canada, said there’s absolutely a need for such a support group in the Yarmouth area. The first meeting attracted 30 participants.

“When we met the first day we had people from Morrocco, Mexico, Colombia, Africa, Nigeria, Vietnam, Hong Kong – all these cultures coming into one room,” he said.

International students attending the Dalhousie School of Nursing or the NSCC as well as health-care providers, including physicians and nursing families, are among the immigrants calling Yarmouth home, said Numfor.

Factbox

Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division

• With more than a 100-year history, the Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division is one of the oldest and most extensive community mental health charities in the province.
• As the leader and champion for mental health, the division and its branches across the province deliver programs that provide the tools and support Nova Scotians need to be well and stay well.
• This includes support finding and maintaining safe, affordable housing, assistance finding sustainable, well-paying jobs and access to mental health literacy tools and education.
• These programs are free to access and available to everyone in Nova Scotia.
• Online

Housing, employment, transportation, children not being able to make friends at school are among the issues the group has discussed, said Numfor.

“When we come together as group, we help others who have had similar experiences,” he said. “It makes them not feel isolated. I can relate to issues, stories of the newcomers. It’s a mirror image of what I went through myself.”

Numfor said the group will be inviting special guests to attend meetings to help inform newcomers on issues that are being brought forward.

Programs:

For example, someone coming from Africa or Asia or the Americas may be used to applying for jobs differently from the Canadian system, which could be the reason they are having difficulty finding employment, so the group will bring in people from Nova Scotia Works to show them how to write a resumé and other job-hunting skills.

While the pilot project is scheduled to run until June, Numfor said there are plans to continue in some capacity beyond that to help newcomers feel welcome and supported.

For more information, contact Numfor at [email protected] or Zaval Nunez at [email protected].

YReach – Yarmouth

Provides place-based settlement and language support to immigrants, refugees and their families who are new to communities in Yarmouth and Shelburne counties, including:

• In-person individual and group settlement services;
• Community orientation and support in accessing services;
• Social events and recreational opportunities;
• Child and youth programming;
• Solution-focused counselling and advocacy;
• Awareness raising and welcoming communities’ initiatives;
• Community collaboration and referrals’
• In-person language instruction.

Suicide-prevention training