Solid State’s Year-End Celebration is happening today! All organizations in our network are welcome as are families, and friends. Come to eat a big meal, exchange some gifts, play some games, and see some new and familiar faces.

Solid State is accepting new co-ops! Come to this virtual information session to learn about what we offer and prepare your application!

Solid State Community Industries Intake Info Session (Online)

Friday, November 21st

5:00-6:30PM

Solid State’s intake for new cooperative projects is open from November 17th to January 7th, 2025. Come to this virtual information session to see if your project is a good fit for our program. Solid State supports the development of racialized-led cooperative businesses, we provide business and financial planning, networking opportunities, branding support, worker-owner training and more.

• Learn about Solid State

• Hear from successful co-ops in our network

• Prepare for our application process - Link to Application Page

Solid State is accepting new co-ops! Come to this virtual information session to learn about what we offer and prepare your application!

Solid State Community Industries Intake Info Session (Online)

Friday, November 21st

5:00-6:30PM

Solid State’s intake for new cooperative projects is open from November 17th to January 7th, 2025. Come to this virtual information session to see if your project is a good fit for our program. Solid State supports the development of racialized-led cooperative businesses, we provide business and financial planning, networking opportunities, branding support, worker-owner training and more.

• Learn about Solid State

• Hear from successful co-ops in our network

• Prepare for our application process - Link to Application Page

Solid State’s intake for new cooperative projects is open from November 17th to January 7th, 2025. Solid State supports the development of racialized-led cooperative businesses, we provide business and financial planning, networking opportunities, branding support, worker-owner training and more. Check out the application page to learn more!

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Surrey, once one of the most affordable Lower Mainland cities, now has a scarcity of accessible rental housing, limiting options for low-income tenants, including refugees. Despite this, it hosts a disproportionate number of refugees compared to other Metro Vancouver municipalities. Newly arrived Government-Assisted Refugees (GAR) and refugee claimants face language barriers, unfamiliarity with housing tools, discrimination, and limited rights knowledge, making them vulnerable to exploitation and homelessness.

Through this project, we gathered the stories of four refugee communities: Spanish-speaking refugee claimants from Latin America, Dari-speaking Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) from Afghanistan, Swahili-speaking GARs from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Arabic-speaking GARs from Syria and Lebanon. Over the course of one year, City in Colour Cooperative, in partnership with DIVERSEcity Community Society, engaged with these four groups to document their housing experiences and their diverse journeys from their arrival to Canada to their current homes.

The main goal of this project is to understand and map out the systemic barriers that hinder refugees and refugee claimants from securing adequate, affordable, and long-term housing in Surrey, while raising awareness about their housing situation

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Celebrate the work of co-ops in Solid State's network while welcoming the accepted new groups from our 2025 Spring Intake!

Join the extended Solid State Community for this spring get together! We'll be welcoming four new cohorts and celebrating the work of all existing groups. We'll have great food as always, a couple short presentations from staff and community partners. Mostly, we will be enjoying each other's company and mingling across organizations. See you there!

For Solid State members! Register to give important feeback to the city about what we want our community plan to prioritize. You will receive a $50 honorarium and free food! June 16th 5-7PM at Solid State.

Apply for Our Stories, Our Voices (Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Edition)

If you are interested in attending Our Stories, Our Voices, a free six-week writing series facilitated by Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal, please fill out this form to express your interest and share your availability by June 16! This writing series is for immigrants and refugees who self-identify as women on non-binary, inclusive of trans women. Please note this form does not confirm your participation. Preeti will review applications and email you by June 25 to confirm your participation (you'll have 48 hours to confirm participation before your space is offered to someone else so please pay attention to your emails during that time). 

About the program:

This 6-week program welcomes participants at all writing levels, from those trying writing for the first time to those looking to deepen their craft. The workshop is designed to explore writing as a tool for resilience, record, community-building, spiritual practice, play, stress reduction, embodiment, joy, and more! Together, we’ll connect with our creativity as a pathway for inner reflection and storytelling while building community. For a detailed overview of the program and to learn more about the facilitator, please click here (please read the overview before filling out the application to ensure you are, in fact, interested in this program and understand what you are signing up for).

Key details for the purposes of registering interest:

• Program Length: Weekly sessions for six weeks from the first week of July to the first week of August online via Zoom. Each session runs 1.5–2 hours. The exact dates will be determined based on availabilities shared on this form.

• Group Size: Approximately 10 participants.

• What you need: Zoom, internet access, a camera and microphone that work, something to write with, a desire to write and be in community, camera access. If you are part of Solid State, they can support you with laptop and internet access.

Thank you for your interest! Please submit your form as soon as possible. 

**If you've attended Our Stories, Our Voices before, please indicate this in question #4. Spots will first be offered to those who have not yet attended Preeti's writing series so that they have opportunities to experience the community, creativity and transformation that occurs! If there is still space after that, we will open it up further. Thank you for your understanding. 

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Surrey, once one of the most affordable Lower Mainland cities, now has a scarcity of accessible rental housing, limiting options for low-income tenants, including refugees. Despite this, it hosts a disproportionate number of refugees compared to other Metro Vancouver municipalities. Newly arrived Government-Assisted Refugees (GAR) and refugee claimants face language barriers, unfamiliarity with housing tools, discrimination, and limited rights knowledge, making them vulnerable to exploitation and homelessness.

Through this project, we gathered the stories of four refugee communities: Spanish-speaking refugee claimants from Latin America, Dari-speaking Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) from Afghanistan, Swahili-speaking GARs from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Arabic-speaking GARs from Syria and Lebanon. Over the course of one year, City in Colour Cooperative, in partnership with DIVERSEcity Community Society, engaged with these four groups to document their housing experiences and their diverse journeys from their arrival to Canada to their current homes.

The main goal of this project is to understand and map out the systemic barriers that hinder refugees and refugee claimants from securing adequate, affordable, and long-term housing in Surrey, while raising awareness about their housing situation

Border(ing) Practices

Border(ing) Practices: Systemic Racism, Immigration & Child Welfare is a collaborative research project led by researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of Victoria working in partnership with child welfare, immigration, and gender-based violence service providers and advocates within Ontario and British Columbia.  

This research aims to understand how immigration policies, in concert with systemic racism, shape child welfare policies and practices with children, youth and families.

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Follow @lethertalkca to get updates on this upcoming event for racialized femme!

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Solid State staff meet to discuss cohort updates, internal projects, finances, community spaces and more!

Follow @lethertalkca to get updates on this upcoming event for racialized femme!

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup

Solid State Community, 10326 Whalley Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 4H4, Canada

Dosti Project Monthly Meetup for Queer South Asians and friends, ages 19+. Powered in partnership with Solid State Co-op.

To see more Sher Van events, visit https://www.shervancouver.com/

Follow @lethertalkca to get updates on this upcoming event for racialized femme!

City in Colour offers tailored workshops for teams, organizations, or individuals interested in learning practical steps to foster safer and more inclusive work environments for racialized women. Please contact us at team@cityincolourcoop.com for more information or to schedule a workshop.