Rural towns are full of rednecks and racists. Owen Sound is shattering this stereotype one community sponsor at a time.
For a town of 20,000 people, it has experienced a lot of change over the past few years. The catalyst was the Canadian Government’s policy to allow community groups to sponsor refugees. So far 25 refugee families have arrived, with others now also choosing to relocate to Owen Sound from different parts of Canada.
It started with a couple of key leaders, including a church minister who organised a community meeting at the local church in September 2015. 75 curious and compassionate locals showed up, many of whom had been touched by the image of 3 year old Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a beach in Europe.
Out of this meeting, a small number of church members put their hand up to form the first sponsorship group. They brought out an Eritrean refugee family of seven. Other locals watched keenly from the sidelines. The Eritrean family were well-liked by the community and settling well. You can do it too – was the message filtering out through the town.
Monthly meetings were organized at the church to encourage others to get involved. This turned into the Grey Bruce Newcomer Network which harnessed the groundswell of support as other sponsorship groups quickly began to form. The volunteer network became a way for the community to self-organise, support one another and share insights and challenges. With the nearest funded settlement service more than 150km away there were no existing services close by and this made it even more important for the community to educate themselves to ensure that refugees were provided with the highest possible level of care and welcome.
Now it’s Thursday night in Owen Sound and I’m participating in a lively open night event at the Arden Language Centre. Diversity seems the norm here. Adult English students from all different backgrounds are proudly showcasing their culture and the building is alive with colour and vibrancy.
Responding to a lack of English language services in the region, the school was started by husband and wife-team Andy and Dave after the first refugee families started to arrive. “Here we do more than just teach English” Dave tells me, “we build human connections”. The school relies on over 50 volunteers to teach just over 40 students. On top of the incredible language and literacy outcomes the school has enabled for students, the personal relationships formed between volunteers and students have been powerful in influencing broader community acceptance for refugees and newcomers. And importantly, this has helped newcomers feel welcome and like they belong.
Owen Sound didn’t need everything to be perfectly in place to become an inclusive new home for refugees – the community responded as the need emerged. But it started with leadership and a seed of compassion.
With the church minister, who brought ordinary community members into a conversation around diversity and social justice. And the first pioneering sponsorship group, whose endorsement and encouragement paved the way for other locals to become sponsors. And Dave and Andy, who not only responded to a gap in services but recognised the importance of getting locals involved.
Arden students write their goals for Fall 2019. This has been a great way for school volunteers to learn what else they can help refugees with outside of class.
What Owen Sound teaches us is how big social change can often start with the leadership of one or two trusted and respected community champions. It also shows us the power of personal connections in sustaining positive change.
“Of course racism still exists here”, a local tells me, “But the difference now is that when one guy makes a racist remark in the pub, there’s 2 or 3 other guys around him to tell him to shut the ** up. And he shuts up pretty quickly!”
Before you know it, you have created a movement.
