Elgin Local Immigration Partnership Hosts 4th Annual WALK WITH ME Networking Event

St. Thomas, Ontario – The St. Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership (STELIP) together with St. Thomas Elgin Public Health and Canadian Mental Health Association – Elgin Branch hosted the 4th Annual WALK WITH ME Networking Event on Friday. This event gathered service providers, agencies, and newcomers from St. Thomas and Elgin County to learn about cultural competency and increase the quality of referrals across agencies by fostering information sharing.

Front-line service providers require an understanding of the many varied and important supports offered in the community. This event promised and delivered an excellent venue for service providers to access more information, network with other agencies, and make strong connections to support quality referrals. At this event 31 local service providers were represented with 24 participating with display booths that were visited during the service provider showcase.

Photos above, left to right:  Audience; Christian Daboud of CHMA; group working on Case Studies Gaby, Michele Manocchi (Seeds of Change), Shelley Harris (YWCA), Vincent Vu (CMHA)

While increased collaborations is the ultimate goal of the event, it is also used as an opportunity to inform the community about the needs of newcomers. The overarching theme of the 2015 event was Mental Health. The keynote speaker Michele Manocchi of the Seeds of Change project challenged the audience to consider the context in which they interact with clients. Canadian Mental Health delivered "An Introduction to Mental Health First Aid" workshop, and Elgin Oxford Legal Clinic delivered "Your Client and the Law" workshop and a special workshop presented by the Opening Doors project based out of the CMHA in Toronto delivered "Closing the Gap".

We look forward to the next Walk with Me Event in 2016 and encourage all participants to share their knowledge from the event with coworkers and the general public.

For more information, please contact: Petrusia Hontar, Project Coordinator, St. Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership

Article courtesy of St. Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership