Specialized Educational Workshops, Information and Referrals addressing Culture, Adaptation, Intergenerational Communication, and Healthy Relationships for Newcomers
Our Families Can Talk about Anything! (OFTA) Program engages and educates recent newcomer adults and youth in healthy conversations and learning about relationships, parenting, and sexual health, within a settlement context. The goal of the program is to support successful integration of newcomer families through cultural education, adaptation and intergenerational communication on sensitive but critical topics like sexual health. Group sessions include a youth group, multicultural parent groups, couples’ groups and gender-based sexual and reproductive health groups. We also provide customized individual consultations & referrals.
Since its inception in 2001, this ongoing project has been a core piece of SERC’s work with newcomer parents, couples, adults and youth. Main activities include in-depth educational workshop series with newcomers about adaptation, acculturation, intergenerational communication and sexuality. In most years we offer service provider training.
Beginning in 2014 Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), now Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), has supported a major portion of the OFTA work.
Click here for more details on the OFTA projects goals, activities and outcomes.