"Growing roots" in Surrey can be difficult for newcomers to the city, with their unique challenge of finding housing the focus of a new art exhibit.
The Black Arts Centre in central Surrey is hosting the exhibit for nearly one week, titled Growing Roots, organized by the City in Colour Cooperative and Diversecity Community Resource Society.
Stories from Latin American refugee claimants and government-assisted refugees from communities that speak Dari, Swahili and Arabic were gathered for the exhibition, running from July 18 to 24.
With exploitation by landlords and homelessness looming threats for much of the population, Growing Roots aims to share stories straight from the individuals affected.
"It’s a journey that includes shelters or staying overnight in the airport or on somebody’s couch or sharing a room or even very precarious situations where they find a place to stay, and they are treated as slaves — basically where they are asked to do all the household chores and even sometimes, if they are women, they are threatened to be sexually exploited," Fiorella Pinillos, one of the creators of City in Colour, shared of the group's findings.
One participant in the exhibition is Natalia Botero, who came to Canada two years ago when she was seeking refuge after her life was at risk in Colombia. The mother of three was a photojournalist capturing the armed conflict raging in the country until violence was threatening her life and her children's lives, causing them to escape.
"My experience was so hard with my landlord, for my family. Now I am staying in the third place and I come here two years ago," Botero said.
"When you come here, you don’t know anything. The way they do things in your country is so different from here. We don’t know the rules, don’t know the contract, don’t know what can do what can’t do, this is the situation."
Pinillos also shared how employment can also be difficult for refugees and refugee claimants to find, as their English-speaking skills are often sparse upon arrival.
"Each individual or each family is spending between 60 and 90 per cent of their income on housing, so they are relying on food banks for food and they don’t have enough income for other expenses like hydro or phones or transportation," she shared.
"It’s so hard that some say they want to back to their war-torn countries."
For Botero and others, "predatory landlords" often prey on these groups of people because their knowledge of what is legal and what isn't is not extensive, making this population susceptible to exploitation, Pinillos added.
With an important topic impacting many in the city, organizers would like anyone from the public to pay the art exhibit a visit, to be shown at the Black Arts Centre. Particularly, those with positions in government locally, provincially and federally are being encouraged to attend one of the nights.
"By spreading this knowledge widely, we hope to start crafting solutions together," reads a press release from City in Colour Cooperative.
The opening night will be Thursday, July 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the remaining days open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Wednesday, July 24.
The Black Arts Centre is on the ground floor of the Civic Hotel tower (10305 City Pkwy.).
