West Neighbourhood House is sponsoring a Syrian refugee family and we need your support! Click here to give.
How the House is supporting refugees
1. Update:
As is happening all over Canada, we are witnessing an overwhelmingly positive and generous response by the public to the overseas refugee crisis. Over the past weeks, we received unsolicited offers from community members who want to help (whether through donations, volunteering, in-kind donations or through forming private sponsorship groups).
West Neighbourhood House supports this wonderful community response by providing information and connecting people so they can work together. In addition, the House decided to facilitate donation offers by becoming a Community Sponsor to bring over at least one Syrian family now and then hopefully other refugees (including refugees from Sudan and Somalia and other war-torn areas). The family will be referred to us by the government who select refugees to be resettled based on vulnerability and the urgency of their needs.
West Neighbourhood House will be responsible financially for the refugees for one year. We will, of course, provide all the supports we have available in the House, including assistance finding employment, English conversation circles, settlement services and the age-specific programs such as the Music School, Summer Day Camp and seniors services.
2. Donations needed:
The sponsorship paperwork is being done and we are now reaching out to ask for donations so we can bring in as many refugees as possible. The more we receive, the more refugees we can bring in. We have approximately $17,000 to date. We are hoping to raise at least $30,000 which would be sufficient for a family of four people.
Consider contributing what you can to our Sponsored Refugees Fund.
3. Other things we’re doing:
Staff continue our ongoing work providing supports to refugees already here and helping them sponsor their family members. Staff also are providing information on this rather complicated sponsorship and settlement process to groups of local residents who are sponsoring refugees as well. We expect to see Syrian refugees in some of our programs soon.
In addition, the Board of Directors has advocated to the former and current federal governments about the urgency of processing refugees and the need to include refugees from other war-torn countries who have waiting in refugee camps for years.
If you have specific questions about this or related sponsorship or refugee issues, please contact Paulina Wyrzykowski, Manager of Family and Newcomer Programs, at paulinawy@westnh.org or at 416-532-7586 x 412.