The South Central Regional Immigration Partnership is holding a forum on Thursday at Mosaic Place, called "It takes a village to welcome a newcomer."

It's one of 50 vital community conversations which will be taking place in the near future, with this being the first community forum for Moose Jaw.

Dalise Hector, Project Manager for South Central Regional Immigration Partnership, said they will be looking at basic topics, such as what is a community, and what does it mean to you. "We'll be taking a very newcomer focused approached to those questions."

The forum is being held at Mosaic Place and will have over 100 people in attendance. "It is for the whole community, but at this point, the event is sold out," said Hector. There will be newcomers in attendance, people representing different groups, service providers, and community members.

Hector added "It's basically an opportunity to study what's been going on in our community and how our community is doing with being a welcoming community. And getting to know the newcomers who are making this community their home. The event will have people from all walks of life in attendance."

The event is 1 of 50 vital community conversations, initiated by the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation initiated this project. "We recieved a grant through them. To look at the community and how it's going in southern Saskatchewan", added Hector.

The meeting is just one piece of the research being done, said Hector, "It's pretty multi-faceted, this project. Ultimately, the information that we glean from this event will be going into broader research projects. The South Central Regional Immigration Partnership is working on a big research project for our city and our region to understand everything related to newcomers. How they're settling in, where the community can improve things to be more welcoming. This will be a part of that research project."

The South Saskatchewan Community Foundation will also be adding this information into their vital signs report which they do periodically, in order to direct the future of their work in the province.

"Even in the immediate", added Hector, "just pulling the community together to talk together on this important topic. Research projects aside, that's a really important goal in itself. We are grateful for the community support and that really allows us to do all that we do."

The forum takes place from 12-4 pm on Thursday.