Core Tenets: How KNB Thinks About Rooms
Everything written here comes from my own experience as a newcomer and denizen who has used some of Kingston’s newcomer programs and networking spaces over the past few years. There may be programs I have not seen yet, and if so, that is part of the point: whatever exists has not reached me in the form I needed. KNB grows out of that gap: a small, peer‑led space built from the inside of crossing, not from the outside looking in. - Gail Manigsaca
Key Belief #1: Networking is slow, permits are not.
Kingston is a close‑knit place. A lot of life here depends on whom you know, and local networking spaces help people slowly weave into that fabric.
One event is never enough; relationships grow over many small touches.
For newcomers on tight timelines, though — one to three years to find a “PR‑worthy” job while juggling permits, survival work, family, and culture shock — that slow weaving can feel like walking blindfolded down a narrow road.
KNB doesn’t argue with that system; it simply makes a slower room beside it, so people can catch their breath, name what they’re carrying, and decide their next step with a little more support.
Key Belief #2: What funded programs can’t hold
Funded newcomer programs provide real support:
↪️ settlement services
↪️ job search help
↪️ networking panels
↪️ and community events.
Many of us have used these programs and taken something useful from them.
These organizations often centre people who have reached stability:
✅ immigrants who now run businesses
✅ immigrants who are in higher positions and a leader
✅ graduates who secured good jobs
✅ former international students who found their footing.
Their stories show what’s possible, and for some people at some moments, that is exactly what they need to hear.
For people still in the middle: juggling permits, survival jobs, and wondering if they will even get to stay — these panels can feel like being asked to learn from people on the other side of a bridge you are still trying to find.
The unspoken pressure becomes: package your struggle into a lesson, stay motivated, and show gratitude.
KNB is not arguing with those programs; it is simply making a different kind of room beside them.
🙏🏼 A room where rough, unresolved realities do not need to be tidied up.
🙏🏿 Where “I am still figuring it out” and “I do not know if I will make it” are complete sentences, not problems to fix.
🙏🏾 Where people can name what they are carrying without performing hope they do not yet feel.
