Nova ScotiaThe Cape Breton Welcome Network Buddy Program matches newcomers with volunteers — also known as “welcomers” — to help them transition to their new community.Newcomers are matched with volunteers to create connection, help them ‘feel at home’Maria Collins · CBC News · Posted: Sep 11, 2025 5:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoSumayya Mullassery is the co-ordinator of the Cape Breton Welcome Network. She moved to Cape Breton from India 2½ years ago. (Maria Collins/CBC)An organization dedicated to helping newcomers adjust to life in Cape Breton has launched a new program that enables them to forge connections with local residents.The Cape Breton Welcome Network Buddy Program matches newcomers with volunteers — also known as “welcomers” — to help them transition to their new community.Sumayya Mullassery, the network’s co-ordinator, says the program was created with the idea of being a good neighbour in mind.”The program aims to build friendships, and create community connections, and help the newcomers feel at home in Cape Breton,” Mullassery said.The network is an initiative of the Cape Breton Partnership, an economic development organization on the island.Tracy Nguyen was the first newcomer matched in the program. She moved to Cape Breton from Vietnam with her husband and two kids in December. She joined the program in hopes of feeling less isolated.”You live here without the support of your family, your relatives, and it’s a very new culture, new lifestyle here,” she said. “So you have to do everything [on] your own.”Tracy Nguyen moved to Cape Breton from Vietnam in December. She was the first person to be paired with a local volunteer in the new buddy program. (Maria Collins/CBC)Nguyen says raising her children in a new country, without any extended family, has been stressful. “They cannot communicate in English with their teachers, so I don’t know exactly what happened in the school,” she said. “So it makes me much more worried about their studies.”She was matched with volunteer Terri-Leigh Holbeche, who is also a mom. Nguyen says Holbeche has made her feel more confident about raising her children in a new culture, by doing things like helping her understand the local school system.Holbeche was born on Cape Breton but moved to Toronto when she was 18. When she came back to the island in 2022, she says she had a hard time readjusting.She says she wanted to volunteer to help ease that transition for others.”It’s been eye-opening,” she said. “I haven’t really thought about what it would be like to come from a completely different country, and maybe leave some of your family behind while you do that move, and what it’s like to find your community here.”Matching processMullassery says she tries to match newcomers and volunteers who have things in common, to maximize their connection.Volunteering involves an initial three-month commitment to regular communication, and volunteers have to have lived in Cape Breton for at least two years. But Mullassery says they don’t need to be experts.”It might be showing someone around the town and taking them to [get] a coffee, or sharing tips around life here,” she said.The program launched in August. So far there have been three successful matches, and Mullassery says momentum continues to build. Information Morning – Cape BretonNew “Buddy Program” matches newcomers with Cape Breton localsIt’s being run by the Cape Breton Welcome Network and the Cape Breton Partnership. We hear more about it from a newcomer, her “buddy”, and the program coordinator.Mullassery is from India, and moved to Cape Breton 2½ years ago. She says a program like this would have made a huge difference in her transition.”When I landed here, I really needed a buddy,” she said. “At that time, unfortunately, I didn’t know how to connect. It took me around six months to reach out to the community and get involved.”The program is for anyone who is new to Cape Breton, whether they’re coming from Halifax or around the world. That means their challenges may vary, Mullassery says.For Nguyen, her biggest challenge has been the language barrier. For others, Mullassery says it has been finding resources, housing or experiencing winter for the first time.Holbeche says she hopes to continue volunteering, and encourages others to as well.”I think being more open to our community and the changes that are happening is amazing,” she said. “Cape Breton is thriving right now. We have so many untapped resources of new friends and new minds that are coming here.”ABOUT THE AUTHORMaria Collins is a reporter and associate producer with CBC Cape Breton. She can be reached at maria.collins@cbc.ca
Cape Breton ‘buddy program’ helps newcomers adjust to life on the island
