THE COMMUNITY IN ACTION

SUPPORTING THE SYRIAN REFUGEE FAMILIES RESETTLEMENT PROJECT

The Collingwood Syrian Family Sponsorship team is joined by a large group of volunteers who continue to assist with the many tasks associated with helping our newcomers to adapt, settle in, and find suitable housing, English language training and employment. There are currently five Syrian families residing in Collingwood, two have relocated here after their first year elsewhere because of the huge welcome and level of support offered by people from the Collingwood area. We are now welcoming a new family of refugees from Iraq who are Kurdish speaking, as are four of the five families already in town.

The photos below offer a flavour of some of the early preparation work that was done by our many volunteers as well as photos of our newcomers happily joining in community activities and events – many of which were completely new experiences for them. When one young newcomer was asked, “What was the biggest surprise about moving to Canada?”, his response was, “Everything!”. He said that everything is so different from what they were used to it has been a time of huge adjustment, learning and wonder as they adapt to their new life in a safe place and a way of life so unlike what they experienced when they had to flee their homeland.

The latest photos show scenes from the one year anniversary celebrations held at Sunset Point on August 27, 2018 for the newest two Syrian newcomer families and attended by all of the Syrian families and a large crowd of supporters and volunteers.

Read the review from Collingwood Living