Welcoming Newcomers - Samen Hier

The Amsterdam Hub is working together with Samen Hier, an initiative by Justice and Peace that is running in four major Dutch cities (Haarlem, The Hague, Rotterdam and Almere). With the support of the Justice and Peace, the Amsterdam Hub is currently striving to engage Amsterdam in community sponsorship for newcomers, too. The idea: Each so-called 'Welcome Group' consists of five individuals, friends, colleagues or family members. For one year, the goal is for the group to be an equal partner for the newcomer(s family), providing help with any questions he/she/they may have and creating a social network together. The group receives support and has access to a cultural expert, and each group is matched with a newcomer(s family) using an algorithm developed by the University of Toronto. The model is inspired by community sponsorship programs in Canada and Italy. Learn more: https://www.samenhier.nl/