Connecting families is one of the goals of the Yorkton Family Resource Centre, and the Exploring Cultures program is one of the ways they accomplish this goal. The monthly events are about sharing different cultures with the community, and trying to help people understand a bit more about each other and where they come from.
Kim Gelowitz, Early Years Facilitator with the Family Resource Centre, says that the evenings began as a way to engage people, starting with a South African night when the centre first opened.
The program is a partnership between the Family Resource Centre, Partners in Settlement and Immigration and KidsFirst. She says that the different agencies mean that they can get the word out to more people.
Many of the presenters for the evening are families who use the centre regularly, as they prepare the meal and share information about their culture. Gelowitz says that the Centre works as a support, hosting, paying for the ingredients and assisting with the preparation of the meal as they are able.
She says that with a recent Japanese night showed why they host the events. A woman from Japan who lives in Canora was able to meet people and make connections.
“She actually didn’t know any Japanese people around Canora or Yorkton... One of the teachers in town is married to a Japanese lady, we connected them here at Family Resource Centre and they offered to do a Japanese evening. It has been neat to see how their friendship
has grown and that support, and really that is what Family Resource Centre is about, building those supports.”
The nights are growing, and RBC gave a donation of $1,000 as well as plans for a future event. One of the upcoming events is going to be a Jamaican night, which will be hosted by two RBC employees who want to showcase their culture and background.
“That’s what we want in Yorkton, to go full circle.”
The next step is to start offering ethnic cooking classes, with plans for cooking classes becoming part of the program. Recipes have always been part of the program, and the ultimate goal is to have a Family Resource Centre cook book to showcase the different cultures in the area.
Gelowitz emphasizes that the Exploring Culture events aren’t just for families with young kids, and everyone is welcome. She says it’s about connecting people, whether that means newcomers or people who have been in the area all their lives.
“We all want to learn about different people who have come to Yorkton and immigrated from other countries, and learn about those cultures.”
The Exploring Culture events are part of the overall goal of the Centre, which is to provide support for all families in the area. Gelowitz says that they exist to give people have a place to go, meet other parents and participate in a variety of programs for their kids.
“This is an initiative for all families. It’s not targeted families, this is for every family, we believe every family deserves support... When families come, there could be a doctor’s wife and there could be someone who is struggling financially, and how much they have in common and how much they can work together, how we’re really very much the same, it doesn’t matter about income. It’s nice to see that Yorkton’s been able to get rid of that stigma, we wanted families to know that there is support out there, and that you deserve the very best and your child deserves the best education.”
The next Exploring Cultures event will be in September, and Gelowitz says the current plan is to coincide with the Culture Days event in the same month.
