Pride Month: Toronto’s The 519 offers support to 2SLGBTQ+ refugees – Toronto | 24CA News
Each 12 months Canada welcomes 1000’s of refugees who’ve fled the whole lot from battle to political unrest. For some newcomers, they’ve come to the nation for a distinct motive: to have the ability to stay a life true to themselves.
The 519 is situated within the Church-Wellesley Village, which is dwelling to Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities. It serves as a hub for Queer individuals of all walks of life, providing a variety of companies. The group company is hoping to spotlight the helps obtainable for 2SLGBTQ+ refugees.
Gloria Godwin claimed asylum in Canada in 2019. In her dwelling nation of Nigeria, she was confronted with a distressing ultimatum: keep and be imprisoned, or go away and be free.
“It’s against the law to be an LGBTQ person in my country, and if you are caught, you’ll definitely go to jail for 14 years. It wasn’t safe for me and at the time I was caught,” Godwin mentioned.
“It’s very emotional for me because I don’t have any family, it’s just me.”
Godwin is at the moment a participant in The 519’s New to Canada Program, which connects refugees to essential companies together with physician and lawyer referrals, psychological well being companies and others.
The program additionally holds month-to-month conferences that see an attendance of over 200 individuals in search of assets and knowledge associated to immigration, housing and extra.
Reenita Verma, who’s a settlement companies coordinator with this system, says the most important challenges typically confronted by program individuals are internalized homophobia or transphobia and rebuilding their life after coming to Canada.
“They’ve left everything behind — kids, partners, parents, siblings. Everything they’ve known and grown up with,” Verma mentioned.
Karlene Williams-Clarke additionally helps facilitate various packages at The 519. As somebody who was as soon as a participant of this system, she makes use of her expertise as a refugee from Jamaica to assist these in want of assist throughout unsure instances.
“They’re very scared. They’re unsure what’s going to happen. They get traumatized over and over again to the immigration officer, to the lawyer,” she mentioned.
“I was able to hold people’s hands even tighter. I was able to explain deeper what the next process would be, the next steps would be.”
According to employees there was an elevated demand for companies post-pandemic. The program at the moment serves 1,900 refugees and extra are persevering with to stroll by way of the doorways every day.
Verma says there’s a rising waitlist for companies.
“Mental health services can go anywhere up to three months. They have to wait for their (immigration) hearing. That can take anywhere from six months to a year and a half,” she mentioned.
In an effort to additional assist 2SLGBTQ+ refugees, the company is continuous to lift consciousness about their packages so that folks like Godwin might be themselves with out dwelling in worry. The Nigerian native says this system has allowed her to smile “and be “free in that space to express myself, to be who I am without looking over my shoulder.”
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