Amid a maze of different Health care services and providers, a health and wellness expo hosted by the Multicultural Council of Windsor-Essex on Thursday was there to connect newcomers with the services they need. 

A lot of our clients arrive from areas that lack services [from] health to education, said Nidal Shauki, a nurse practitioner with the multicultural council. 

This is a huge help for them to just raise awareness and know what’s available … this is quite a huge support for them.

The expo brought together more than 40 providers of health services in Windsor and Essex County, including the YMCA. UHC Hub of Opportunities, EarlyOn and others. 

And because many newcomers are still working on their English skills, volunteers from the multicultural council were on hand to act as interpreters in languages from Russian to Arabic.  

It’s fantastic, said Chaker El Dabaja, who arrived in Canada from Lebanon in June 2022. You can have information about anything, any assistance, anything you want. Everything you can see here.” 

El Dabaja said he was pleased to learn of the dental services available for kids in the community — but was making the rounds to learn even more. 

Fatimah Alshami arrived in Canada five years ago. She and her friends attended the expo and said she learned more about how to apply for online services. 

It is so good, she said In Windsor people are so nice.

Alshami says she actually loves going to the dentist and one day hopes to work as a doctor or dentist herself. 

And it wasn’t just health care presented: agencies working on nutrition, sports and personal fitness and other community services were there too. 

The wellness expo has been hosted in Windsor since 2002 to promote healthy choices and improve awareness of and access to local health and social services for newcomers.

Shauki said while there are lots of services available, she still sees the need to do more — and she hopes the expo can help.  

There’s a lot of mental health needs in the community currently that a lot of organizations are trying to address now especially post-COVID, she said. 

There is also a not enough awareness about the dental services available to children [and] vaccines … All of that is effort that we all make together as a community and all the organizations.

CBC News ·with files from Dalson Chen