Group serving Black families expands to Essex County to help newcomers
A program that helps Black families navigate the education system is expanding their services into Essex County.
For the past four years, Family Fuse has been offering free workshops, advocacy and coaching to help children and their parents navigate through instances of racism and harassment in Windsor schools.
The organization has helped more than 200 families across Windsor but are hoping to do the same in Kingsville and Leamington — two municipalities they've identified as needing their services as more Mexican and Jamaican families have settled in the area.
"We want to be able to help those families and enrich their lives," said Nicole Clark, the system navigator at Family Fuse.
"We live in a society that is predominantly Caucasian, so what we are able to do is come in and give the teacher real life examples of the differences in cultures."
The group says they've heard from multiple parents who say their child is getting bullied at school due to their cultural background. (Patrick André Perron/Radio-Canada)
Clark said over the past four years they've heard from multiple parents who say their child is getting bullied at school due to their cultural background and that derogatory terms are still being used by children and teenagers.
She said schools and teachers sometimes don't understand how to navigate the interaction, especially if it's not something they have lived experience dealing with.
"We found that there is a lot of inequity in the school system. There is a breakdown of communication and children are being victimized a lot of times by people who are in power, so what we do is help break those barriers," said Clark.
"It needs to be taken seriously because when it's not taken seriously, these issues escalate."
Family Fuse recently held an event at the Devon House Bar and Nightclub in Leamington to encourage the local community to learn more about the program.
Community members attend an event at the Devon House Bar and Nightclub in Leamington to learn more about the program. (Submitted by Family Fuse)
Families who reach out are able to book an in-person appointment with the Family Fuse team and have access to programs and coaching sessions.
"We want newcomers to Canada to feel accepted and to do that we need to be able to provide services for them, from people who look like them," said Clark.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
(CBC)
