Given income inequality and poverty trends among newcomers, especially those from racialized groups, along with trends towards increased digital service provision across sectors, it should be a concern to us that, while newcomer clients can be among the most digitally literate and connected, they can be among the most vulnerable and still remain digitally, socially, and economically isolated.
In this episode, I’m so excited to welcome Lawrence Murphy back to the podcast. Lawrence is a pioneer in cyber counselling in Canada.
It’s never been more important to share how we’re doing. Share successes, new models of service delivery, but also the struggle. I’ve been enjoying seeing how immigrant and refugee-serving agencies have been successfully pivoting to online services. I’ve been enjoying even more how some are sharing their experiences. There is so much to learn from each other.
In this interview, I surface conversations I’ve been having with Chris Friesen of ISSofBC. We talk at what settlement work looks like now, during a pandemic. What are the opportunities the sector needs to seize? What does the funder need to understand? What do we need to understand about the digital divide and digital literacy of the newcomers and communities we serve? And more.
Many thanks to Maytree for asking me to participate in their “Five Good Ideas: Home Office Series.” I presented five good ideas for remote client service work.
Two reports came out within the past week which I have had the pleasure of being part of. They’re both about the now and future of the immigrant and refugee-serving sector. I hope you find some time to read them.
“You’re not ‘working from home’; you’re trying to get some work done while confined to your home during a crisis.”
So often we don’t focus on the helpers. I think it’s important to do that now and always. Immigrant and refugee-serving organizations have suddenly started working and serving clients remotely. So we quickly created a sector survey to check in with workers and leadership during this time of everyone suddenly moving to remote/digital work.
You’ve likely been inundated with articles, tips, courses, webinars and more about working virtually. I’ve shared a lot of those materials.
Within my network, when I saw Roxana share that she’s been getting lots of requests for tips about how to work virtually, I thought we should chat.
The immigrant and refugee-serving sector is starting to close offices. That means remote work. You are likely to start moving your teams to remote work very soon, if not already. You can learn from others.