Sara’s Story

It only takes one person to see you!

Hello! My name is Sara. My four children and I landed in Canada in the summer of 2017 as refugee claimants from Colombia. Since then, we’ve been living and working in the Niagara Region. My journey as a worker started in 2020 when I got separated and was facing life as a single mother of four without an income, no financial support from the government (CTB), no family support to rely on, and young children to take care of. I was experiencing a lot of uncertainty due to my status in the country, feeling scared of how in the world I was going to both work full time and care full time for my family.

Back then, employment services looked precarious for individuals like me. However, my need to become who I needed to be was motivation enough to start researching for a place to get me started. I went to The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development website and looked for service providers that could help me in any way possible. The YMCA was listed, and I did not hesitate to reach out. Not very long after, I got a phone call, and what seemed to be one of the most difficult chapters in my life suddenly started to change.

See, back in 2020, failed refugee claimants like me had very few benefits. Unless a letter of acceptance was in place, I was not eligible for much other than help with my Canadian resume and interviewing skills through mock interviews. Stephane, my assigned coach, walked me through a series of informational sessions and one-on-one online meetings where he asked key questions to get to know me and my abilities and skills better. We had difficult conversations like the so-called “Canadian experience” being a barrier at the time. No matter my professional background and experience, education, and/or English proficiency, I was still not scoring enough points to be hired by an employer who offered more than minimum wage hours.

I must say that Stephane connected with my journey from the get-go. As a service provider, he took the time to understand who I am and what my goals were at the time. When I expressed my interest in working with politics from the lens of Social and Economic Development associated with minority groups and immigrants, both temporary and permanent residents/newcomers, due to my background in International Affairs and Government and my previous involvement as Chair of The Niagara Migrant Workers Interest Group as a volunteer, Stephane offered a temporary solution to my ambitious medium-term goals: let’s start with a job in sales and get you ready on the side to apply for advisory committees in your city and get your feet wet, he said.

That’s when my professional journey started. I applied for the Advisory Committee of Inclusion and Diversity of the City of Niagara Falls, and even though my strong opinions about this subject did not make the cut in my interview, I met important people who would cross my path later, with whom I’ve worked in different capacities to this day. As I worked for a clothing store, I kept on applying for higher-skilled jobs across the region and beyond. In 2021, I landed a 3-year contract as a research assistant with Western University through a contact I made in a roundtable for a vaccination blitz done by Niagara Region in my capacity as Chair for NMWIG. Later in 2021, I signed a 5-year contract funded by Public Health Canada through Positive Living Niagara. I was no longer in need of keeping my minimum wage job. In 2023, I signed a 3-year contract with Brock University as Local Site Coordinator in the Niagara Region in a community-based research project ACE, as a result of my experience with knowledge mobilization and translation, data analysis, and community engagement done with Western U.

YMCA provided me with just enough training for me to start off my professional journey in Canada. However, establishing trust and meaningful connection with my employment coach is the highlight. He made sure to provide me with information and guided steps beyond his database of employers. For me, as an immigrant, to hear words of affirmation and encouragement followed by action from a Canadian-born meant a huge deal. I got to where I wanted to be at the time and am still where I want to be today, putting in the time and effort to be where I want to be tomorrow after understanding that in order for me to get to places, I need to understand the environment and the people who live in it. How they think, how they live their lives, the sports they play, the workplace, and immerse myself in it to truthfully thrive and settle. But most importantly, to be part of the community to the best of my capacity and find the perfect balance between keeping my cultural identity and belonging to the Canadian culture. Perfect blend, in my opinion.

This process on paper sounds wonderful, but it cost me: challenges to face, barriers to remove, and inner motivation to keep me going. It took clarity of who I am and what I want, but also big amounts of bravery to put myself out there and speak up about opinions vs. facts and life experiences to be put to work. This has worked for both professional and personal lives, and has served as an example of expansion for my children, with whom I need to connect beyond family ties as they are growing up Canadian with a Colombian mother who can barely relate to their life experiences.

In my personal life, I decided to learn how to play hockey, and have been doing so for the past 2 years in a co-ed league as defense. Two of my kids play hockey as well, and sometimes we play together! I gotta love the sport! Even today, with a deportation order in place for July 3rd, I keep working and enjoying the results of my efforts. It only takes ONE person to see you. Keep showing up, and find joy in the midst of chaos.