EdMeCo - https://www.edmeco.com/ 

From access to education and healthcare to loss of jobs, the migrant and refugee community has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people have been marginalized by education systems, online learning and systems navigation,  and are experiencing mental health struggles during this very challenging time. 
  

“My struggles as an immigrant continues to prevent me from achieving my goals and education although I’ve worked tremendously hard just to be educated." ~ H’Oat Rmah

Our struggles rob us from our own dreams, causing major barriers which prevent us from achieving our goals and accessing mental health support. Many of us are balancing between working full time with a low paying job and trying to complete our education. Apart from struggling to achieve our education, other major obstacles thrown into our paths include financial issues, language barriers and family responsibilities. COVID-19 has only increased stress, job loss and challenged mental health.

Where will the funds go? 

• Mental Health/Wellbeing
• multi-lingual counsellors with cultural sensitivity training
• wellness support (check-ins, social isolation support)
• art/music therapy
  
• various body therapies (e.g. physiotherapy, chiropractic, etc)

• Education
• tutoring, one-off courses, online courses and tuition fees 
  
  
• Technology 
• access/support to use technology
• laptops, cellphones, and wifi 
  
  
• Daily Life Expenses
• food security, rent and family caregiving 
  
  

All donations will go directly to young adults to support them where they are at, especially with access to mental health support, meeting daily needs and continuing their education. Some of these young adults are also living with trauma, depression and other mental health illnesses for which they need professional help (e.g. counsellors, art and music therapy and other resources). Donate today to support the right to education and mental health resources.

We need YOUR HELP

Despite the challenges, these resilient and determined young adults are not giving up! They just need a bit of your help and support. Your donations will allow them to continue achieving their goals!

OUR STORY

EdMeCo is founded by young adults of different immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Many of us arrived in Canada in our teens with almost zero English. Unfortunately, school systems have marginalized students after we turn 19 years old and we “age-out” of the support systems before having the opportunity to enter or graduate from high school. As a result, many of us face challenges when identifying, accessing, navigating and connecting with resources such as financial aid and culturally appropriate mental health support, especially during COVID-19. 

With a bit of guidance from trusted mentors, we collectively came together and created a group called EdMeCo (Education, Mentorship, and Connection) in 2017. EdMeCo believes every young adult deserves access to mentorship, community connections as well as education in order to achieve their educational and career goals. These are the core values of EdMeCo:

• Education - provide resources and support for young adults to achieve higher education 
• Mentorship - connect mentors with young adult students based on their interest and other needs such as filling out forms for housing subsidies, health insurance, citizenship, etc. 
• Connection - building meaningful relationships to create a safe space for young adults to share similar struggles and where they can connect and support one another 

Major partnerships and collaborations thus far: 

• BC Recreation and Parks Association 
• DiverseCity, Community Resource Society
• Ethọ́s Lab
• Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Law Firm
• UBC Community Engagement Office 
• UBC President’s Roundtable 
• UBC World University Service of Canada (WUSC)  

We acknowledge that we do this work on the unceded lands of the x ʷ məθk ʷ əy ̓ əm (Musqueam),

Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl ̓ ilwəta Ɂɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.