This year, with support from the Mississauga Foundation, WCC is expanding its program delivery in the Mississauga area. In this special blog, WCC Facilitator and Peel Chapter Lead Steve Elliot reflects on his first writing workshop at the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Hub, where he facilitated for learners in a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada class.

STEVE: As a WCC facilitator, I am often awed by the writing that emerges from a workshop. I have had the privilege of facilitating groups from many walks of life and a variety of backgrounds, and the pieces shared have often touched me deeply. They have offered new viewpoints, new life experiences, and moments that have challenged and expanded my own understanding.

A recent session with learners in a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada class at the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Hub had a profound impact on me.

As a facilitator, I realized I had fallen into a steady pattern of using written words as prompts. For this group, I sensed that a visual prompt might offer a more accessible way in. I chose a picture of a door, slightly open, with light shining through the cracks and a key in the lock. I asked the participants to write to the picture.

Normally, especially during a first write, there can be some reluctance to share. With this group, hands went up almost immediately.

The pieces they shared were short, but deeply moving. Writers touched on family, shopping, relatives who had passed, and secret gardens. As each piece was read aloud, I felt grateful to be in the room with such eager and courageous writers. I also loved seeing their smiles after they shared their work.

One moment stayed with me. A participant at my table shared a favourite line she had written about her mother, and it brought her to tears. That moment touched me deeply. It reminded me of the quiet magic that can happen in WCC workshops when writers are given a safe and welcoming space to express themselves.

We often think powerful writing has to be polished, complex, or filled with literary devices. This session reminded me that simple words can reach the same deep notes, sometimes even more directly. A few clear sentences can hold memory, imagination, grief, humour, hope, and beauty.

I am eagerly looking forward to returning to this group for another session. Thanks to the grant from the Mississauga Foundation, WCC’s work with the Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Hub can continue creating spaces where newcomer writers are welcomed, heard, and reminded that their stories matter.