Building Community, Finding Belonging: How QTMAAWE Became Family and Home for Black and Trans Newcomers in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Every year, Black queer and trans migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and newcomers arrive in Windsor-Essex seeking safety from violence, persecution, and discrimination. While Canada offers protection, participants in this study described that arrival is often accompanied by loneliness, uncertainty, racism, financial hardship, and the challenge of rebuilding life in an unfamiliar place. QTMAAWE was founded in 2024 by and for queer and trans migrants, after community members recognized that existing services did not adequately meet the needs of Black queer and trans newcomers. Since then, it has become a community hub providing safe spaces, peer support, settlement assistance, refugee claim support, advocacy, leadership opportunities, health promotion, and social connection to approximately 600 members. This exploratory study, conducted in the Summer of 2025 through focus groups with 22 community members affiliated with QTMAAWE, examined how Black queer and trans newcomers experience belonging through the organization. Six major findings emerged: ● Isolation is one of the greatest challenges facing newcomers, often beginning immediately after arrival — and it can be devastating. ● Legal protection alone does not create belonging: participants navigate intersecting experiences of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-immigrant discrimination, including within spaces presumed to be safe. ● QTMAAWE creates belonging through shared lived experience — participants described it as family, home, and the only space where all of their identities can coexist. ● Practical and emotional supports are interconnected: settlement help, job referrals, and legal literacy are most meaningful when delivered by people who share the community’s experience — and community participation itself carries weight in refugee claims. ● Community gatherings foster healing and resilience: shared meals, wellness activities, Pride celebrations, and creative expression promote well-being collectively. ● QTMAAWE is becoming an important community institution, building partnerships across the region and beyond — but its sustainability requires investment. The report situates these findings within the broader Canadian research landscape — showing that the patterns documented in Windsor-Essex recur across the country, and that peer-led community organizations are the most trusted and effective support this population has — and closes with recommendations for community organizations, funders, service providers, and the broader Windsor-Essex community.