First of all, thank you all very much for this opportunity.
My name is Rosie Smythe, and I'm the executive director of New Circles Community Services in Toronto. I'm here with Diana Gibbs, our development manager.
New Circles was founded in 2005 by a social worker by the name of Cindy Blakely. When she saw students whose basic needs were not being met and who were not able to focus in class, she was led to start New Circles Community Services to provide free clothing to those in need. It began in Flemingdon Park, one of Toronto's highest-need neighbourhoods with large numbers of low-income households.
Over time, New Circles has steadily grown, and today we offer a range of programs, including social groups, settlement support and employment training, in addition to the clothing. We now focus on five high-needs neighbourhoods in mid-Toronto, including Thorncliffe Park, which is known across Canada as the launching pad for new arrivals. These neighbourhoods make up our catchment area of about 88,000 people, and child poverty rates are among the highest in Canada.
The majority of the residents are immigrants, most having arrived within the past five years. As you know, poverty and unemployment rates for newcomers are among the highest in the overall population. We may not have started as a settlement agency, but we have increasingly focused on supporting the needs of new immigrants, who are among the most vulnerable in our city.
How do we do this? We now run the largest clothing bank in Toronto. It's called GLOW, Gently Loved Outfits to Wear. We serve 15,000 individuals a year. About 75% of them are newcomers. Our catchment group also includes Syrian and government-sponsored refugees in Toronto. We are often the first stop for refugees, but we are also available to anyone in need of clothing.
We created a unique and innovative design when we moved to a larger space in 2015. We set it up to simulate a real store. We now use it as a platform for our clients to develop employable skills. Our primary users are low-income immigrant women with challenges in finding paid work; that is, they lack Canadian credentials, experience in social networks, and are uncertain about how and where to look for jobs.
To address these barriers, we developed two training programs. The first focuses on retail sales and customer service skills, in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada. The store setting is very supportive, and it helps them to understand employer expectations and learn soft skills. We also launched an office skills training program in partnership with Centennial College. It teaches digital literacy, business communication and office administration with work placement as part of the program. We enrol 70 women annually in this training. I'm very proud to say that within six months, 70% of our grads find employment or enrol in further training.
We also run social support groups. We have volunteer opportunities and a settlement case management program.
GLOW has become a natural gateway not only to introduce newcomers to these programs, but also to refer folks to a range of settlement services that are offered in the community.
I'll turn it over to Diana now, and she can explain further.