Sudbury Project Hope To Make Decision On More Refugee Families Relocating

By Angela Gemmill

We should know later this week if another one or two refugee families will soon call Sudbury home.

Two local churches are already sponsoring Syrian families due to arrive in the coming weeks.

But volunteers with the non-denominational group called Sudbury Project Hope, will make a decision today about whether to help more.

Chair Jim Gordon says they got word recently from the Office for Refugees -Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT) that they could bring one or two families here.

He says the timeline for when these refugees arrive will be based on housing availability and money raised for the sponsorship.

Gordon says the groups can’t really find a house or apartment for a family until it’s known when they’re coming.

Gordon also chairs an umbrella organization, called Lifeline Sudbury, which will help make the transition smoother for all refugee newcomers set to arrive in the city in the coming months.

This organization is meant to take care of any problems each group has and provides resources for the refugee families.

The refugee families being sponsored by St Andrew’s Church and Capreol Valley Refugee Sponsorship are due in Greater Sudbury before the end of the year.

St Andrew’s is sponsoring a family of six from Syrian, while the Capreol group is working to bring a family of nine from a Lebanon refugee camp.

Gordon says he known that one of the families potentially to be sponsored by Sudbury Project Hope, is a family from Iraq, currently in a refugee camp.

He says they’ve already been screened by ORAT.