Local organization seeking housing for incoming Ukrainians
Posted Mar 23, 2022 08:25:00 PM.
It started off as a simple Facebook page and evolved into an organization. Regardless of the platform, the goal has always been the same – to help Ukrainian refugees acclimatize themselves in Waterloo Region.
Stephanie Goertz is the Organizer of the Facebook group titled 'Waterloo Region Grassroots Response to Ukrainian Crisis' that was created at the beginning of March. While appearing on Kitchener Today on CityNews 570, she said that team is completely comprised of volunteers and they are always looking for extra helping hands.
“We started up a volunteer form right at the very beginning and now we're at 175 people to have completed that form and are looking to help in some way,” said Goertz.
Volunteers can help with creation of kits, translation, providing homes, preparing meals, among other duties.
Despite it all being for an amazing cause, Goertz added that it has not always been easy to put into action.
“It's a huge challenge because there's so many people that want to help from so many different backgrounds but it has been so successful and the team of people that have been built and created are working together and it has been so inspiring.”
There will be many tasks to tackle in the upcoming weeks but for now as Ukrainians begin to arrive, their main goal is to provide housing to the newcomers.
“Ukrainian families don't necessarily feel comfortable coming to Canada if they don't know where they're going to live,” said Goertz. “Their family members in Waterloo Region can fill out the paperwork to get them here, but they may not be able to provide the housing for the families.”
Right now, about 40 people have generously volunteered their houses to act as a new home for the Ukrainians. A form has been added to their website in hopes that more residents will be able to lend their homes, if even only for a short period of time.
“For some of the families, their goal is to get back to Ukraine. They're here to reach a place of safety but for some, their goal is to get back home to rebuild their country,” said Goertz.
Although the group's goal is to welcome Ukrainians to the region, the organization isn't able to help actually getting the refugees here.
“This application process is extremely new and we're not involved in that process. We're leaving that up to the YMCA or the Waterloo Region Immigration Services because they do have a number of resources for that.”
She said that although they don't have a big say in getting the Ukrainians here, their job is to make them feel welcomed and comfortable once they arrive. In the near future, the goal is to start collecting items specific to the families.
“Each family is going to be unique and we have very little information about the families coming before they actually arrive at the airport, so we are working on that right now. Hopefully within the next few days, we'll start being able to advertise that at a future date we can start accepting donations.”
Reception House Waterloo Region is actively accepting donations to add to their hygiene kits for the families. Shampoo, body wash and deodorant are a few of the sought after items but a full list can be found on their (Twitter page). All donations can be dropped off at 101 David Street in Kitchener.
