SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT: A VIRTUAL FORUM FOR UKRAINIAN REFUGEES
Client: DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society & Cariboo North Refugee Readiness Team | 2024
The Cariboo North Refugee Readiness Team connected with Uplift Engagement Communications (Uplift) to plan and execute a virtual community forum for Ukrainian Refugees living in the Cariboo North of British Columbia. The goal of the virtual forum was to provide a platform for stakeholders, community members, and newcomers to come together, exchange ideas, and collaborate on strategies to enhance settlement and integration efforts.
Uplift conducted outreach to in the following topic areas: housing, transportation, children and youth, food justice, post-secondary education access, and foreign credential recognition.
As the project team secured participation in the virtual community forum, the agenda for the event evolved to include speakers sharing resources and information about local government, immigration and maintaining legal status, volunteering, settlement services, and immigrant employment.
Uplift also led the development and distribution of a social media toolkit. The social media toolkit included tailored social media messages for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and a poster to promote the event. The social media toolkit was distributed to key community partners in the region, including Prince George Public Library, Smithers BC Helps Ukraine, PG4Ukraine, and Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George. Working with the Cariboo North RRT subcontractor and community partners with connections in the local area was key to securing registration and attendance from Ukrainian refugees in the Cariboo North region.
The strength of Uplift’s participant outreach led to a virtual event featuring relevant programs and topics with a thorough question-and-answer period for each topic. Our team produced a post-event survey for participants to rate the effectiveness of the virtual forum to inform future virtual and in-person events. We also produced a final report for the Cariboo North Refugee Readiness Team to present to their funder and distribute to community partners who assisted in promoting and participating in the event.
Through the virtual community forum, the Cariboo North Refugee Readiness Team was able to identify the specific challenges, gaps, and priorities of newcomer refugees and displaced Ukrainians. The insights collected from the virtual program can inform future programming and support initiatives to enhance refugee integration and well-being.