Grassroots effort to sponsor Syrian refugees bearing fruit

THUNDER BAY -- The municipality and local church groups are shouldering most of the effort to bring up to 100 Syrian refugees to Thunder Bay but those operating outside of the church and state are finding success striking out on their own.

A grassroots effort that began with a pro-refugee demonstration at Hillcrest Park in September has turned into a concrete plan to bring a family of six Syrians to the city.

A group of five neighbours called the Hillcrest Refugee Sponsors has raised over $17,000 and has been arranging everything from a basement apartment to food costs. Its members have even retained a commitment from a doctor to put the two adults and four children on a patient list.

“What we’re doing is non-denominational,” said group member Liane Boyer-McLean. “You don’t need to be a member of a parish or a church and you can still do this great humanitarian thing and support Syrian refugees.”

Canada’s refugee sponsorship programs aren’t tailored to the Hillcrest group’s do-it-yourself approach. Donations to unincorporated groups or individuals would be subject to that person’s income tax, for example.

Despite the HRS’ best efforts to steer clear of linking their campaign to faith-based organizations, they ended up forming a win-win relationship with D.O.O.R.S. to New Life that allows the group to raise funds while retaining independence to develop its own settlement plan.

Boyer-McLean granted congregations credit for leading the way on local refugee resettlement believes there’s will in the secular community to help with the cause as well.  

“You can do something. Not everyone needs to sponsor a family or form a group to do this but we can all do something,” she said.

“Maybe for each person to look at their own life and look at what room they have, whether it’s a small donation to the United Nations Refugee Fund or supporting their church in a sponsorship or supporting a non-denominational group, there are ways to do good. You just have to look for them.”