Volunteers at the Y: Fatima’s Story
When Fatima arrived in Canada with her family in 2023, she was beginning a new chapter in a new country, learning the language, getting to know her community and finding her place.
Today, she is helping other newcomers do the same.
atima began volunteering with the YMCA in 2024 as a ‘Community Guide’. Through this role, she accompanies newcomers to important appointments, including visits to hospitals and pharmacies, helping them understand where to go and how to navigate unfamiliar systems.
For Fatima, volunteering is about much more than helping someone get from one place to another.
“I like to help people, it makes me very happy” she says.
Her own experiences as a newcomer give her a unique understanding of how overwhelming everyday tasks can feel when everything is unfamiliar. She remembers not knowing how to navigate a hospital or understand where different services were located. Now, she can help someone else feel a little less lost.
Fatima speaks Arabic and Tigrinya and uses her language skills to help bridge communication gaps. But volunteering has also helped her strengthen her English. As an English student at the YMCA, every interaction gives her another opportunity to practise, learn and grow more confident.
“Volunteering is very good for me to because I get to practice English,” she says.
Over time, volunteering has changed the way Fatima sees community and her own ability to contribute to it. She has gained new knowledge, new experiences and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence that comes from knowing she can make a difference in someone else’s journey.
She now encourages her friends to volunteer, too.
“I told them, go volunteer, help people. It’s good for you because you get to learn as well.”
For Fatima, volunteering has become a two-way journey. She helps others find their way through their new community while continuing to find her own way, too.
And that is the power of volunteering: sometimes, when you reach out to help someone else, you discover just how much you have to give.
About the YMCA of Southwestern New Brunswick
The YMCA of Southwestern New Brunswick is a charity dedicated to building healthy, connected communities where everyone belongs. Through health and wellness, newcomer support, child and youth development, and community programs, we remove barriers, stand against racism and exclusion, and ensure people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Help Us Tell More Stories
If you’re reading this and someone from our YMCA community comes to mind whose story deserves to be told, we’d love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team and share their story so we can continue highlighting the voices, moments, and impact that make our YMCA so special.