The Bow Valley Syrian Refugee Project has officially been launched and organizers hope the efforts of local volunteers will help bring up to eight Syrian refugees to the valley in the near future.
With the newly elected Liberal government announcing further details of its plan to bring 25,000 refugees to Canada on Tuesday (Nov. 24), the project’s spokesperson Debra Hornsby said hopes are that Canmore and Banff will be able to help.
“We have had an outpouring of support and I would say it is still early days,” Hornsby said. “From the Bow Valley community we have an offer of housing, we have collective pledges… of $40,000 at this point and we are still trying to work on getting a donation process going.”
Two meetings were held last week and over 60 people showed up to volunteer to be part of the project – and Hornsby said it is something that has her beaming with pride for the community.
The Bow Valley Syrian Refugee Project, she said, has organized itself into teams to focus on various aspects of settling refugees in the community based on recommendations from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
“What we have is a structure based on experience in other communities in sponsoring refugees and based on what Canada Immigration specifies,” she said.
Sponsoring a refugee comes with the commitment of supporting that person for a full year after they come to Canada. But it is easier for approved sponsorship agreement holders to go through that process.
With the United Church of Canada being an approved sponsorship agreement holder, Hornsby said Ralph Connor United in Canmore is part of the discussions.
“The church has been extremely supportive and they are still in the process of final approval from their church council,” she said. “I feel like we are getting there. This is more than just an idea at this point, there are people stepping forward to make this a reality and welcome these people to the Bow Valley.”
Bow Valley Settlement Services and the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership also attended initial meetings and are working with the project.
Mountain Munchkins daycare owner Peter Rawlek has also pledged $5,000 as an initial contribution and two daycare spots for a full year as part of the effort to assist families that come to the valley, a value of $24,000.
Those interested in becoming part of the volunteer effort, or supporting the project, can go to www.bowvalleysyria.ca or email [email protected] for more information.
With the federal government announcing a goal of bringing 10,000 refugees to the country by the end of the year, the Bow Valley Syrian Refugee Project expects to have more details about local efforts in early December. If the valley does not see refugees arrive by the end of the year, another 15,000 in refugees are expected to arrive in Canada by the end of February.
