Building community: Connecting refugee and Canadian families.

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation of factors that promote or impede the development of social cohesion in communities receiving refugee newcomers largely of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) backgrounds. This community-based research was completed in collaboration with a community partner-a settlement agency dedicated to supporting people with immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Interviews were conducted with refugee newcomers, professionals working with refugee populations, individuals involved in private sponsorship of refugees, and long-term community residents. Results focus on the essential relational and contextual issues to consider when designing a program to build social connections. Together, the findings suggest the value of trying to replicate how relationships form organically, the need to collaborate across systems, and the importance of addressing societal narratives about how newcomers are perceived. Recommendations regarding the process of creating a community program are offered. These findings will be shared with a range of stakeholders to cocreate and implement a new program for enhancing social cohesion in our community. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).