Birmingham

Newcomers Club helps residents adjust to new surroundings

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — Moving to a new country, state or even town can be tough on the entire family.

That’s why, for more than 60 years, the Birmingham Bloomfield Newcomers Club has been helping those new to the area adjust and build a new life by finding friends, learning about their community and participating in a variety of different activities each month.

“Out of seven or eight moves since I’ve been married, we’ve had one very unsuccessful move, and I didn’t know what I would do. It was hard because when you relocate, you have no support, no friends and no family,” Newcomers Club President Kathy Finley said. “It can be a very unhappy situation at home if your family is not happy, so we really try to fill that need to provide friendship and the support that people will often need coming into the community.”

The club, a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Community House, welcomes people from all communities who have recently moved to the area and need a little help getting acclimated. The group currently has around 230 members.

“People will generally join within the first couple of years that they come to town; however, we find that people who have become members, if they haven’t transferred out of the area a few years later, generally stay members. We have a lot of members that have been here five, six, seven (years) or maybe more,” Finley said.

Thanks to the more than 30 activities organized by the group per month, there’s no reason to ever sit home once you become a member, she said.

“Many days we will have two or three activities a day, so that you really have your choice, whether you are the type of person who just wants to go to lunch, or whether you want to be active, or whatever it is. You can generally find an interest,” Finley said.

Some include movie and book clubs, international and American culture groups, professional business roundtables, mom and tot events, ladies nights out, and many exercise groups, to name a few.

The group’s goal, according to Finley, is to be of service and help to those new to the area, no matter where they’re from.

“Those of us who move around a lot realize that it’s difficult to move to a new town, and in many of these individual’s cases, they don’t speak the language well, so they really feel like they are out there alone,” Finley said. “Today we find ourselves 85 percent international, so we have many members from Japan, some from Korea, some from South America, Europe — and we have a large German concentration. We also have many Americans,” she said.

Mona Schmatz, vice president of the Newcomers Club, first got involved in the group two years ago. Although she had lived in Michigan before, in Northville, she resided in Brazil and Australia just before moving to Birmingham.

“When you live away and come back, it’s a great way to meet other people who have similar sort of experiences. We still have friends in Michigan and they are wonderful, but it’s been great to connect with others who have lived abroad,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about the group are encouraged to attend one of the free welcome coffee events, held the first Monday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at The Community House, 380 S. Bates. Free child care is available.

For more information, visit www.bbnewcomers.com or call (248) 644-5832.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1060.