Current News
August 2023 Update
With the season moving on, this update on Abdikadir, Asho, and the boys focuses on summer activities. Two of the youngsters have been attending summer camp and one has gone to summer ESL classes. Of course, they’re enjoying playing soccer, and the entire family had a great time on a trip to the islands with committee members Sharon and Nevin. As a prelude to finding employment, Abdikadir is working on getting security guard certification. Asho has been meeting with committee member Camila to develop her English. Other group members Mary, Alison, Paul, and Sally-Beth have visited to take donated clothes to the family and to check in monthly about progress and any challenges. Our committee is very experienced, as we have been working together for over eight years now. We’ve been able to share our knowledge with another settlement group. They have managed to bring Qais, an Afghani legal professional, and his family to Canada. Given the circumstances, their sponsorship journey has been very challenging, and we are pleased to offer them assistance as they navigate the route. Watch for another update in September.
If you are interested in learning more about the committee, its work, and volunteer opportunities, please contact Alison Colvin.
If you’d like to make a financial contribution to welcome this family to Canada, you can donate through Canadahelps.org and the Welcome Abdikadir and Family to Canada campaign page. Canadahelps.org will provide an immediate tax receipt.
Ukraine
The West has been watching in horror as Russia appears intent on demolishing Ukraine. At Church of the Redeemer, we support Ukrainians by donating or by providing resources or space. We invite you to do the same. Helpful websites include:
- Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society https://cuias.org/wp/
- Ukrainian Canadian Congress https://www.ucc.ca
- and for those who can help with housing, https://www.icanhelp.host/
How you can help
- Donate to our current sponsorship. You can do so through Canada Helps.
- Become a member of our group. We can always use extra hands to greet people at the airport, orient them to the City of Toronto, help with medical appointments and educational needs, etc.
- With the current flight of millions of refugees from Ukraine compounding the already existing worldwide refugee crisis, ever more refugees are in need of shelter. The Redeemer Refugee Committee would like to bring your attention to Techfugees. This international digital service connects refugee claimants to vacant houses or apartments.
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Back in 2016, in the midst of the surge of Syrian refugees, Mary Jo Leddy gave this advice: “Pay attention; don’t wait until you are ready; do what you can.” An MPP in the audience spoke up: “I’ve been waiting to do something, because I didn’t think I was ready, and I didn’t know what to do. Now I do, so if you’re interested in joining me, call my office tomorrow.”
In this spirit, write to your MPs and urge them to open our borders to refugees from around the world. Please consider using this letter, as is or revised. It calls on the Canadian government to reactivate and increase the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) programme. Understandably, refugees coming with the support of sponsorship groups such as ours at Redeemer are more readily settled than those simply coming as government sponsored refugees. The letter also calls for increasing admissions to Canada, to benefit both those displaced from their homelands and Canadian society at large. A large number of letters from constituents will indicate to our representatives that this is an important issue worthy of their attention.
For further information or to become involved, please contact Alison Colvin.
Who we are
The Redeemer Refugee Committee is an interfaith group working since 2015 with the Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA) to sponsor refugees. In the past five years, our group has settled one family and five individuals. We are currently waiting to settle a Somali family coming from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. If you are interested in being part of the settlement group, please contact Alison Colvin.
On Refugee Sunday, November 7, 2021 Dr. Mary Jo Leddy gave the homily at the 9:30 and 11:15 services. “We Can Do This” was an inspiring call to continue our work of welcoming the stranger. The founder of Romero House, a community welcoming refugees since 1991, Dr. Leddy has written many books, including At the Border Called Hope and The Other Face of God, both giving faces and personal stories of the perseverance of those fleeing their homelands to find refuge in Canada. Listen to her homily here.
