Throughout all of our work, Together Project aims to build social connections for refugee newcomers in order to help build more inclusive and welcoming communities.

One of the ways we measure the impact our program has on addressing these aims is using the Social Provisions Scale, which helps us track a change in newcomers’ self-perception of social isolation.

As we recently wrapped up our “Welcome Groups for Refugee Claimants” pilot program, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we wanted to share with you some of the results we received from the program’s evaluation, which you can find below. This data comes from 19 refugee claimant households who participated in surveys before and after their matches.

At the outset of the program, 57% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt socially isolated, compared to 31% after their participation in the Welcome Group Program. Significantly, 42% strongly agreed initially, whereas only 5% strongly agreed after the match. You’ll also see that 69% of respondents indicated that they felt supported by others, compared to only 16% at the start of their matches.

We’re incredibly proud to see what kind of an impact our programs have on helping reduce social isolation, especially in a year as difficult as this one. We want to thank our volunteers, funders, and partners for making this impact possible, and we look forward to sharing more about our impact in the months to come.