Open Door Society hosts community involvement event for newcomers

As part of its efforts to help welcome newcomers to Regina, the Regina Open Door Society hosted a community fair-type event today at the Ramada hotel.

It featured information about services in the city and the province, including booths from the YMCA, the Humane Society, the Office of Residential Tenancies, fire and police services and various health and support services.

Laura Strong is a community connection worker with the Open Door Society. She said the event is an effort to help people become more tied to their new home. 

"When you think about resettlement, there's the settlement piece of where to live, opening a bank account, that sort of thing. And then there's the integration piece," she said. "It's that next level of saying, 'OK, I know what's available in my community, and I know how to access that as well.'"

Strong said relocating can be tough, and a slow process for newcomers, but they're usually eager to become part of the community.

Mohmed Shaith said he was "really excited and happy" to take information at the fair. He arrived in Regina from India just over a year ago, and said he was interested in the information offered by the YMCA so his family could access some recreational activities.

Curl Regina also had a booth at the fair, showing newcomers just what curling is. 

"Curling is kind of a hard sport to know, that it's even out there unless you're born in Canada, especially Saskatchewan" Curl Regina president Brandi Clarke said. "It just gives us an opportunity for us to grow the sport as well, and to offer it to everyone."

Clarke said the newcomers' interest in the sport was overwhelming.

"Especially with the Brier being on right now, a lot of people have seen it on TV," she said. "We've been explaining the size of the rock, and how much a rock weighs, and that the object is to push the rock down the sheet of ice and be closest to the button."

She said they had some fun explaining to some surprised people that it's a cold sport played on an ice surface, but after their initial surprise, she's hoping the sport gained some new recruits.