Immigration program, SPOKE, returning to Merritt

MERRITT – The SPOKE program, put on by Kamloops Immigrant Services, is returning to Merritt.

“We are the only immigration agency that is available for the Thompson Nicola region,” said Kate Cheng, Settlement Counsellor with Kamloops Immigrant Services. “We know that there is newcomers out there who are not able to access services within our community, that’s why we want to provide these services.”

Cheng goes into more details about what services she provides to those new to the country.

“Mainly I help them navigate whereabout to find housing, employment, transit, or if they need help with school registration for their kids, I can connect them with the school district.”

Kamloops Immigrant Services held an open house at the Merritt Civic Centre to share more information and meet more people within the community.

“We were hoping to know more about the newcomers in Merritt and kind of get an idea of how many are there and how to help,” said Cheng. “At the same time, we are just hoping to get information from the community partners here in Merritt as well looking to collaborate with them.”

The SPOKE program is nothing new to the City of Merritt as it was around a few years ago to much success.

“SPOKE is a model that we have been using to practice for this specific program,” added Cheng. “It’s an outreach service, so Kamloops is a hub and we are doing outreach services to the Thompson Nicola region area in places like Merritt, Clearwater, and Barriere. The program started initially in 2018, we were running for about two or three years until the pandemic happened.”

Cheng will be coming to Merritt every two weeks to help those residents in the community that are new to Canada. She will have an office set up at the WorkBC Centre, 2099 Quilchena Avenue, and have office hours of 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.. Appointments or walk-in’s are accepted.