Katarzyna, or Kasia as most folks know her, spent a year working with the Settlement Services in the Bow Valley to help immigrants settle into their new lives. One of the priorities for the Settlement Services team is to remove barriers that exist for people to accessing services in the Bow Valley.
Building connections between cultures
Kasia’s role with the Settlement Services was to connect immigrant community members with each other and with programs and services available to them locally. artsPlace and the Settlement Services team have been working closely on a variety of initiatives since 2020 to create that connection to the local arts and culture.
“I certainly see a need for connecting people to the arts. I see our clients coming back to the programs and wanting to engage,” says Kasia.
“This work is important because of the cultural differences that exist in the world and how they affect an individual’s sense of belonging,” she adds. “People in many cultures simply don’t feel comfortable attending events or programs unless someone they know attends them too.”
The Listening Circles confirmed this. Most attendees admitted that if it wasn’t for the fact they knew Kasia or an artsPlace team member or another participant – someone they felt connected to – they wouldn’t have shown up.
Kasia knows this because she has built trust with the folks she served. They felt comfortable with her and it's why they felt comfortable showing up. “It’s kind of like having an insider with you,” she says.
She also understands this through her own experience of arriving to the Bow Valley as an immigrant back in 2012. This personal connection helps her relate to her clients' journeys and it’s what makes her so passionate about helping others.
“My hope is that people who came to artsPlace through the Settlement Services connect with each other and feel comfortable coming back.”
It’s about making that initial connection, Kasia says. Once that happens, people gain trust, become friends. They feel more empowered to ask questions and get the information they need. They’re building their own community.
“I remember one specific group of people who came to artsPlace as part of our introductory art class. Some of the participants became friends with each other afterwards and continued to attend workshops together.”
“If we can provide that kind of support, especially to folks who don’t know the language that well or are new to Canada – this makes a significant difference.”
Learning from each other
Besides the need for community connectors, Kasia identifies affordability and access to information as other important barriers to tackle. “I think it’s important to find a way into the diverse communities that live here and to learn from them.”
“We can all learn from this research. We are grateful that artsPlace took a big step to bring people into this process.”
The Listening Circle which included community members from different cultural backgrounds highlighted the importance of interconnecting and learning from each other. “Learning about different cultures helps us to understand where people are coming from and to be more inclusive of those different experiences,” says Kasia.
“artsPlace is doing an amazing job already and it’s fantastic to see them digging even deeper into understanding how they can become more accessible, more inclusive. They put in the groundwork and there are more groups waiting to be heard from, so this is just the beginning but it’s a fabulous beginning.”
