When Al Maidani arrived with his wife and two sons, he struggled to integrate into the community. Ryan says strong community connections are important for newcomers to integrate into a region and help negate winter blues symptoms. Al Maidani began working as a hairdresser at a local salon, quickly realizing he had skills most of his peers didn’t. When he opened his barbershop in 2018, Al Maidani received a lot of support from his clients and the community. This article is part of The Independent’s Coming to Newfoundland & Labrador series.