What are the Barriers & Strengths of Today’s Newcomer Youth? (Part 1)

Our city and communities continue to welcome newcomer youth from around the world. These young people embody unique barriers and strengths, and bring their experiences to the systems that operate in our community. To support the healthy development and active participation of newcomer youth, we must listen to the stories of youth’s experiences and hopes for their new lives and examine our work and actions as a community. Newcomer youth bring with them a variety of strengths including incredible resilience, unique skills and interests, as well as being emergent multilinguals. They often correspondingly face barriers and challenges including racism, limited education or employment opportunities, and working with service providers who are not sufficiently educated or responsive to newcomer youth’s needs. The speakers will highlight the lived experience of newcomer youth, and the action and development of community services which aims to meet their needs. Speakers: Douhouk Dabbas & Kristina Larkin Douhouk Dabbas is from Syria and has been in Canada for one year and three months. She lives with her family and is studying in LCI High School. Kristina Larkin is a Canadian born daughter of an Irish immigrant, and the manager of Youth Settlement Services at Lethbridge Family Services, and has 10 years of youth work experience in Lethbridge. She and her team support newcomer children and youth ages 3 to 25 with in-school and community based programs, and work to structure their programs to truly meet the needs of young people. Moderator:   Mary Shillington Date: Thursday, April 27, 2017 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $12.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea)