The Board of Missions at its March 21 meeting agreed to sponsor another family to replace the family from Iraq which is not eligible for Project Hope funding. This family is Syrian, currently in Lebanon, and consists of a grandfather (Josep), his wife, their daughter (Marina) and her teen-aged daughters. They will qualify for Project Hope funding, provided that they do not have relatives in Canada.  I spoke to Marina this morning and we are starting the process of gathering all the necessary information. Please keep this family in your prayers; I will keep you posted as I learn more.

Unfortunately the sponsorship of the Iraqi family is not going to proceed. Initially we were told that the sponsorship would be funded by Project Hope, a fund established by the Catholic Church for refugees. However in the course of communicating with the family, we learned that they have relatives in Canada, which makes them ineligble for Project Hope funding. We also learned that a church in Laval, Quebec was considering the family for sponsorship but so far we have been unable to determine the status of that initiative. ORAT (the Office for Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto) had provided us with profiles of two families (both Syrian refugees in Lebanon) and these will be considered by the Board of Missions at their next meeting on March 21.

The Board of Missions has now approved the sponsorship of a Christian Iraqi family through ORAT(the Office of Refugees for the Archdiocese of Toronto). The family consists of a husband, wife and 3 daughters (17, 14 and 10),  currently in Lebanon.  ORAT has already completed some of the paperwork and they believe that  the family could be here in 9-12 months. Most of the settlement costs will be paid by Project Hope, a fund of the Catholic Church.

I cannot thank enough those volunteers who came forward to commit to helping with the resettlement work, thereby convincing the Board of Missions that we could mobilize enough support. This sponsorship is only possible because of you - and because of you, this family with their 3 precious daughters can have some hope. I know that more volunteers will come forward once the family arrives but you made it happen! Thank you! 

We have been asked by ORAT (Office of Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto) if we would sponsor a Christian Iraqi family (2 adults and 3 young daughters) currently refugees in Lebanon. This sponsorship would be funded by Project Hope, an ORAT fund, and thus there would be no, or only mnimal, cost to the members of YPBC. We know nothing else about the family.
This sponsorship was discussed at last night's Board of Mission meeting and the Board was supportive. It would however like to be sure that volunteers would be forthcoming to support the various resettlement activities such as:

• Applying for Government documents (OHIP, permanent resident card etc);
• Finding accommodation;
• Shopping;
• Registering children in school;
• Facilitating medical, dental treatment;
• Navigating the TTC;
• Enrolling in English classes;
• Connecting them to the Iraqi community;
• Driving to appointments, etc

If a sufficient number of volunteers comes forward the sponsorship will almost certainly proceed, given that there will be no cost to the church. So please let me know as soon as possible if you would be willing to volunteer and lets not hesitate to make this sponsorship happen. Please send me a note (mwills@chartwellconsulting.ca) if you are willing to volunteer. Thank you!

The Syrian family who we are co-sponsoring with a Group of Five arrived safely last night from Lebanon via Istanbul. Rashid and Amal and children Haya (6 year old girl) and Sam (one year old boy) were greeted by some of the Group and by Amal's sister Taghrid who is a settlement worker with the Arab Community Centre of Toronto, They are in good hands!