Laurier supporting three Syrian refugee families
Posted Jan 19, 2016 07:32:46 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Wilfrid Laurier University is bringing in three Syrian refugee families to our community.
Two are settling in Waterloo Region, the other in Brantford.
The university began its campaign to sponsor three families this fall and raised over $80,000.
The first family arrived in KW on Friday; the other two families will arrive in the coming weeks.
Rob Donelson helped co-ordinate the project, he says all apartments are fully furnished, ready to go, and are in a great location.
“The two families in KW are in an area in Kitchener that’s adjacent to shopping, and schools, and public transit. Very centrally-located.”
Donelson picked up the first family at the airport and says they are very excited to be in our region.
“They had been in this refugee camp for four years so they were really really happy to finally have a little bit of stability in their lives, and although there is a lot of uncertainty about their new life in Canada will be like, they seem genuinely very happy and grateful.”
Laurier says it’s also helping each family with language classes, enrolment in school, health care and even job-search support.
