PRUDE’s Welcoming Week Spurs Connection And Inclusion
Next week, Saint John will be alive with activity and education as the charity PRUDE Inc. (Pride of Race, Unity, and Dignity through Education) hosts its first annual Welcoming Week.
The weeklong event is a chance for the organization to recognize and celebrate the “people, places, and values that help everyone feel welcome” in the community, “no matter where they come from,” according to the organization.
From September 9-18, the organization will run a series of free activities and events aimed at educating both newcomers and locals, building community connections, and making Saint John a more inclusive and barrier-free place.
The week kicks off with a salsa dancing workshop on September 9. The class, PRUDE’s Robert Sancton explains, is an opportunity to both have fun learning new dances and learn about the culture and traditions surrounding those dances.
He says the workshop is a great example of the kind of work PRUDE does in the community.
“That thread of education and diversity and expanding people’s ideas runs throughout everything we do,” Sancton says.
The rest of Welcoming Week will feature a wide breadth of events that include a day of outdoor activities for young adults at Rockwood Park on September 11, a September 16 open yoga class from the All Women Project, and open houses for programs like PRUDE’s English conversation class.
PRUDE is also hosting several lunch-and-learns sessions to highlight its Workplace Bias Recognition and Bridging Cultural Diversity programs. These programs, which tackle issues like diversity and inclusion and bias in the workplace, are available to employers and organizations throughout the region.
PRUDE has a long and rich history in Saint John. The organization was founded in 1981 with a mission to usher in the full participation of all cultural communities in the social, cultural, and economic fabric of mainstream New Brunswick life.
The organization runs several programs designed to help newcomers build connections and feel more welcome in the community.
Its Newcomer Women Leadership program helps newcomer women develop skills and create community connections; its Dive Into YSJ program helps young adults aged 16-30 get involved in the community, and its Come Together The Canadian Way program helps people practice conversational English and cultural integration.
“But PRUDE isn’t just about newcomers, it’s about acceptance and challenging stereotypes,” Sancton says.
Along with the work it does supporting newcomers, PRUDE’s Gary Flanagan says the organization does a lot of work talking to locals about the benefits of creating a diverse, inclusive community.
Flanagan often gives presentations to students from primary to Grade 12 about the value of diversity and embracing differences. He also invites new Canadians into classrooms to talk about their experiences coming to Saint John.
Flanagan says that since PRUDE was founded, the city has taken some big steps to become a more welcoming place. However, he says the road ahead is still long.
“When I was in school about 30 years ago almost all my classmates were white. The face of New Brunswick has definitely changed over time, but I still think there’s a long way to go. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. I don’t think it’s just a Saint John thing, but I think there’s still an element of racism and bias here.”
Sancton says PRUDE continues to fight against that through its deep community connections and educational efforts.
“Our greatest strength is that we work like a family,” says Sancton. “There’s a human response when someone comes to the front desk – they’re going to talk to someone fairly quickly.”
PRUDE’s English programs, for example, have no entrance exams, don’t require a multi-week commitment, and are free.
“People can just come into the office and say ‘hello, I’m interested in joining’ and then they can be signed up very quickly,” Sancton says. “It doesn’t sound like much but sometimes in this sector there can be a lot of bureaucracy.”
“After 41 years, PRUDE has become very savvy and very knowledgeable about networking,” Flanagan adds. “There are certain things that we don’t do but we are very good at directing people [to proper resources]. If someone comes in looking for a service we don’t specifically offer, we will know exactly who to direct them to.”
The full Welcoming Week schedule is below.
This story is sponsored by PRUDE Inc.