Community prepares to welcome refugees to the Glebe

By Carol MacLeod

Since early September a steadily expanding volunteer group of concerned folk has been meeting to find ways to address the growing world refugee crisis. The group is called Ottawa Centre Refugee Action, or OCRA. About 60 people responded to a mostly word-of-mouth invitation to our most recent meeting on October 24 at Glebe-St. James United Church.

OCRA’s objective is to settle refugees in our community. The group is working through Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program, which is the quickest and most efficient route to settle refugees. BVOR matches refugees identified for resettlement by the United Nations Refugee Agency with private sponsors in Canada.

Under BVOR’s cost-sharing arrangement, refugees receive financial support for one year from the date they arrive or until they become financially independent, whichever comes first. The government provides income support for the first six months and private sponsors such as OCRA provide income support for another six months plus a year of social and emotional support. OCRA is working to match every dollar we raise with monetary and in-kind donations from other sources and through free or cost-shared community programs.

Our strategy has been to partner with government-approved sponsorship agreement holders, or SAHs, which in our case are the United Church of Canada and Jewish Family Services. This eases the bureaucracy, as we can tap into the SAHs’ expertise and use their financial administration and charitable tax statuses (the SAHs can issue tax receipts).

Government guidelines suggest $24,000 per year to support a family of four and $12,000 for an individual, but we are building in a cushion. $62,000 had been pledged by end of October, not including in-kind donations. We will support as many refugees as our financial contributions allow, be they families or single people, so our drive for donations continues. Participants can pledge a lump sum or monthly support amounts. All confidential financial commitments go into the general OCRA pot to be held in trust by an SAH. The SAHs assume formal financial responsibility for the refugee family.

But money is not enough. Refugee families also need a community to help them navigate the first overwhelming months and we continue to seek participants who can give this kind of direct support. OCRA’s next major task is to match all the pledges of support with the needs of our refugee families. We are organizing small front-line family support groups to create a settlement plan for each refugee family and then implement it. The plans will detail arrangements for finding temporary and permanent accommodation, getting furnishings and clothing, learning languages, shopping, getting kids into school, arranging health and dental care, finding jobs, and much more. A detailed settlement plan gives refugees the best chance for succeeding in a new country and new culture.

OCRA’s steering committee meets every week or two to plan strategy, organize volunteers and assess fundraising. The steering committee will continue to identify the financial, expert and direct support needs of individual refugee families. We will draw on our participants to provide language skills; pro bono health, medical or dental services; and other special skills.

You can volunteer your talents, time and expertise as the family settles, or share your Ottawa-based networks. Are you a great fundraiser or networker? Can you take family members to appointments? Help with banking? Take them skiing in Gatineau Park?

We may have our first family! In mid-October, we were offered the opportunity to sponsor a family of five – parents and three children, aged 21, 18 and 9 – and we accepted. We know nothing about them or when they might arrive in Canada, when their (and our) adventure will really begin.

Visit our website www.RefugeeAction.ca and our Facebook page www.facebook.com/OttawaCentreRefugeeAction. We are also starting a youth group!

To participate, email us at OCRA613@gmail.com. We will get back to you with a link to the pledge sheet, where you can make a commitment, large or small. The extent of your involvement is entirely up to you.

OCRA’s monthly meeting for all participants is your chance to network, explore new ideas, get updates, socialize and deepen your involvement with OCRA. Here are some dates:

• Tues., Nov.17, 7–9 p.m. at 217 First Ave, St, Matthews, downstairs,

• Sat., Dec. 12, 10 a.m. – 12:30, 650 Lyon, Glebe-St James, Fraser Hall, main level, and

• Wed., Jan. 13, 7–9 p.m., 650 Lyon, Glebe-St James, MacPhail Hall, downstairs.

Carol MacLeod is a participant in Ottawa Centre Refugee Action (OCRA) and a Glebe Report regular contributor.