James Anderson, left, Bob Horton, Nazim Awan, Sheila Anderson and Aggie Brockman have teamed up to help settle a family of six Syrian refugees in Yellowknife. Lindsay Armer is their sixth member, but was out of the city when the photo was taken. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo |
Yellowknife group expecting Syrian family
Six Yellowknifers prepare for arrival of mother, father and four sons
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, January 22, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Syrian family will be en route to Yellowknife once they get the green light from Ottawa, according to a man who is part of a group of city residents sponsoring the refugees.
Bob Horton and five others teamed up to sponsor one family after the Syrian Refugee Fundraiser Dinner at Sir John Franklin School in December. Now, he said, a mother and father and four boys - ages 13, 10, 9 and 7 - are in Beirut, Lebanon, waiting for the federal government to give them clearance to begin their journey.
"They're coming. The exact time hasn't quite yet be figured out," said Horton. "The federal government will give us notice. We don't know if it's going to be one day's notice, but they'll tell us."
The parents and the boys are in good health, said Horton, although the group doesn't know too much about the family beyond some basic information. He declined to share their names.
"We do know their names. We do know their medical history in as much as it's pretty clean, there are no medical issues," he said. "But we have not had the opportunity to communicate with them directly. And we need to. We need to know which coat sizes to get them."
Horton said the group is sponsoring the family through a program called the Blended Visa Office-Referred Program, which links approved refugees with private sponsors.
The federal government has completed paperwork to permit the family to enter the country and is footing the bill for the first six months of their stay, said Horton. Horton's group - which includes James and Sheila Anderson, Nazim Awan, Aggie Brockman and Lindsay Armer - need to show they're able to come up with cash for the following six months, he said.
"We'll likely need at least a three- if not a four-bedroom (place to live), so our start-up cost is just under $70,000," he said, adding the group has also committed to meeting the family at the airport, helping them find a doctor, helping them figure out banking and transit systems as well as enrolling them in English-language training.
Horton said a city developer - Cloudworks Adventure Capital Inc. - has offered the family a four-bedroom condo in Cloudworks 2 at a quarter of the cost.
"They're contributing very substantially toward the resettlement cost of this family," he said.
"The city has offered to provide charitable tax receipts to anyone who gives to us."
Horton said the condo accounts for a big chunk of the $70,000 they hope to raise. He said the group has cover another $25,000 and they've proven they'd be able to pay for it out of their personal funds but hope to make the money by fundraising.
Horton said he is happy to help a family in need.
"We got involved in helping out with the dinner so we could send some funds over to help the people who can't immediately come," he said. "And then the next logical step seemed to be putting together a group."
Nazim Awan - another member of Horton's group who is also president of the Islamic Society of Yellowknife - said he immigrated to the city from Pakistan in 2003.
Awan said the Syrian family can expect a warm welcome. The group has found Arabic speakers to help the family begin settling and have secured a quantity of Halal meat.
He said city residents are friendly and are used to seeing foreigners.
"At the end of the day, nobody asks you where you are from," he said.
Mayor Mark Heyck said he was thrilled to learn the city can expect Syrian refugees to arrive very soon.
"It's fantastic news," he said. "I heard about it last week, at one of the working group meetings from the group we formed back in the fall."
Heyck said he thinks the city is prepared to take in several Syrian families.
"We have people from many parts of the world, including the Middle East, who will provide strong support and be great resources to refugees who are arriving. Aurora College and the GNWT also have some resources available to help people settle and integrate into the community. I think these initial groups we're seeing will really pave the way for additional efforts over the year or two to come."
