With 25,000 refugees expected to arrive by the end of the year, Ottawa is in a state of preparation for the daunting task.
The United for Refugees initiative was launched to raise the funds that will be needed to support the refugees and their families as they arrive.
It was created through the collaboration of United Way Ottawa, the Community Foundation of Ottawa, the City of Ottawa and Refugee 613.
“It’s for wherever the needs will be in terms of bringing refugees effectively into Ottawa. That might include sponsorship. It might also include a space that we’re already deeply involved in, which is settlement,” says Michael Allen, CEO of United Way Ottawa.
While there is no goal in place yet because of the uncertain numbers, the United for Refugees initiative has already raised almost $250,000 in funds and are happy with their start, according to Allen.
However, doctors at the Centretown Community Health Centre are concerned that Ottawa’s health system may not be able to withstand the incoming wave of Syrian refugees.
Centretown Community Health Centre is home to the Ottawa Newcomer Clinic, designed to help newly landed refugees. They provide mental health services, prenatal care and other basic medical assistance. City officials have told doctors at the clinic that Ottawa could absorb up to 3,000 Syrian refugees.
Dr. Alison Eyre and Dr. Carol Geller, physicians who helped found the newcomer clinic, say they have never seen an intake of this magnitude planned for Ottawa.
They’re concerned it could crack what they call an already fractured system.
“We’ll have to have a lot more manpower in order to do a quick absorption,” says Geller.
She says there are not enough physicians to satisfy the full spectrum of needs the Syrians will present. The doctors say they are grossly underpowered and will need more hands.
“We need to look at not just the new people coming in, but the whole system,” Eyre says. “The government needs to be really organized about it.”
Geller added that the biggest physical challenge will be treating the children for infectious diseases, spread by the conditions of the refugee camps.
While this alone may sound daunting, both Eyre and Geller agree that mental trauma is a big concern as well.
“We’ve been told to expect a lot of mental health (issues)… There will be lots of grieving,” says Geller, shaking her head. The deaths of family members and threats from ISIS are now coupled with the experiences in refugee camps and the difficult transit journey.
The new Trudeau government has promised to restore free refugee health care, but has not announced a concrete timeline.
Court proceedings concerning restoring coverage have been pushed into December.
Immigration Minister John McCallum, says that fully restoring the health benefits removed in 2012 is a “no-brainer.”
While healthcare is pressing, housing is the top priority.
The government has proposed temporarily housing the refugees in military bases, but they will soon need permanent homes.
At the beginning of October, Mayor Jim Watson announced another initiative called Refugee 613 to co-ordinate aspects beyond funding, including sponsorship, donations of money or household items and providing necessary information to the local citizens.
There are also many community groups that are privately sponsoring their own family of refugees, such as the Knox Presbyterian Church on Lisgar Street.
The church will be sponsoring a family of five from Aleppo, Syria. Based on the expected needs of a family this size, the church will need to raise around $30,000 according to Laurie Fyffe, co-ordinator of the sponsorship.
It has already raised around $7,000 in cash and pledges. “There’s a tremendous amount of good will and there is a lot of potential in the community. There is room in fundraising for every size of donation,” says Fyffe.
The Knox Presbyterian Church hosted their first fundraiser on Nov.18, which was a musical concert called “Jesus, Jazz and Hope.” It raised just under $1,700, exceeding its goal of $1,000.
Another church that has been heavily involved in the refugee crisis is Parkdale United Church. Like the Knox Presbyterian Church, it will be sponsoring a family of seven The sponsored family has relatives in Ottawa who reached out to Parkdale United Church for help.
According to Rev. Dr. Anthony Bailey, they have been trying to sponsor this family for almost a year and a half now. They lost contact with them for a while, but have found them once again in Jordan. The church has almost raised its goal of $30,000.
The anticipated arrival of 3,000 refugees in Ottawa would almost triple the city’s annual intake, while 25,000 people would meet Canada’s annual numbers in just six weeks.
Eyre says that we need to act like we want the Syrians in Canada, and give them the same treatment we would a Canadian because, “People are people, right?”