Stratford is welcoming a new family all the way from Syria thanks to the work of Stratford Welcomes Refugees (SWR) and Avondale United Church’s sponsorship group.
The two groups recently announced that the family is expected to arrive soon. They are living in Lebanon after fleeing Syria.
The identity of the family is remaining private as they get ready to settle in the community, though the groups announced two children will be enrolled in elementary school and the parents will begin English courses.
Tom Melady of the Avondale United Church group told StratfordToday that since SWR’s inception, Avondale United Church wanted to form a sponsorship group, though it was only post-COVID that the group started.
The Avondale United Church group is made up of mostly congregation members with “warm hearts to help,” as Melady explained.
The group has been working on connections for the family and establishing housing, while SWR handles finances.
Geoff Williams explained that SWR helps sponsorship groups by fundraising the cost of settling families in the region. They are also members of various sponsorship groups around the city and can act as a resource for those groups, answering questions about the process.
There are a few routes refugees can take to come to Canada.
“What makes it unique is that it’s a combination of a local community sponsorship group and support from the federal government,” Williams said. “This one is specifically tailored to try to make sure that the community support is good enough, that at the end of the year, the family is well-integrated into the community.”
Through federal sponsorship alone, Williams said that families lack the vital connections that can help them succeed.
Refugees arrive under the Blended Visa Office Referred program after being screened and approved by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.
Since SWR’s start in 2015, they have supported seven different sponsorship groups and seven different families. Refugees come from places like Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They are unable to return to their home country.
Williams said that the process of helping refugees settle in the country never gets easier, though the rewards of helping families are always heartwarming.
“The way it's most rewarding is for the kids, because you see that they're just getting a whole new lease on life and their future kind of opens up for them.”
