SALISBURY – The City of Salisbury and Mayor Jake Day are pleased to announce the release of the ‘Salisbury Welcome Guide,’ a comprehensive guidebook to the Capital of the Eastern Shore. The city guidebook, available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, helps to introduce the city to new, prospective and current residents. The guide contains information and resources that every new Salisbury resident should know such as healthcare information, tenant rights, legal information and help, local organizations, parks, and more.
Residents can find the Welcome Guide and its translated versions on the City website by clicking ‘Guides’ at the top of any page of the City website. This will give users the option of accessing the interactive English, Spanish or Haitian Creole welcome guide page. Users can also download the guide to print or keep on their mobile devices for easy access.
“One of our City’s guiding principles is that ‘All are Welcome Here,’ and this highly accessible Welcome Guide will help us welcome people from all kinds of places, all different walks of life, as they join our vibrant and inclusive community here in Salisbury,” shared Mayor Day.
Broken into two parts, the first section of the guidebook focuses on resident rights including information on healthcare, social services, employment, housing, education and language. The second section of the document focuses on local resources and organizations and is broken down into sections focusing on COVID-19 information, disability resources and access, local food assistance, information on registering for public school, local youth services and childcare, and more.
A language key was created for the document to signify which organizations offer translation services, whether in person or online, and how non-native English speakers can access them. “While developing this document, we took into consideration what information and resources would truly benefit residents, especially our vulnerable populations, for whom this translated information may not be readily available,” shared City Administrator Julia Glanz.
The Welcome Guide was developed in part by Mayor’s Office Intern Johannah Cooper, a recent graduate of Salisbury University. “Navigating a new community can be difficult for so many, and for that reason, this guide was developed to reduce one of the barriers to accessing services,” shared Johannah. “When working on this guide, we took into consideration a variety of needs to ensure that this resource is as accessible as possible,” she added.
Over the past year, and throughout the duration of COVID, the City of Salisbury has been maintaining a strong focus on local vulnerable populations, thanks to the Lower Shore Vulnerable Populations Task Force. The Task Force is a collective group of volunteers on the lower eastern shore working together to provide services, resources and more to our immigrant community.
Through the efforts of local organizations, the development of City Welcome Guides, and the formation of the Lower Shore Vulnerable Populations Task Force, Salisbury is proud to be an inclusive and increasingly diverse city in which All are Welcome.
To access or download Salisbury’s City Welcome Guides, visit www.salisbury.md/welcomeguides
