Kelowna is Ready and Willing to Accept Syrian Refugees

The Okanagan is ready and willing to accept refugees who may come to Canada and need help to integrate into the community.

While anti-Muslim sentiment may be running rampant right now, not everyone in the Okanagan shares this opinion.

Marilyn Perry with the Central Okanagan Refugee Committee (CORC) says she has received numerous hate letters, but that has not deterred her from helping those in need.

“I just keep focuses on all the good things that keep happening and those who send me nasty emails, well I just delete them,” laughed Perry. “I think they are not representative of most of the valley.”

CORC was formed 15 years ago when the Kosovo migration to Canada was occurring. The group consists of the First United, Rutland United, and Winfield United Church and many others. The group and other churches in the area already sponsor families from Syria, Iraq, and Colombia. The first Syrian refugees to settle in the region have landed in Summerland thanks to the help of the local church; the second family is in Kelowna thanks to sponsorship offers from the community.

The organization met on Wednesday to discuss future plans to help some of the 25,000 refugees expected to be accepted into Canada. Perry says those in attendance at the meeting included the catholic church, alliance church, the catholic church in Penticton, and the united churches and Islamic centre. Perry is aware of several other churches looking to bring families to the region including in Vernon, Armstrong, and Salmon Arm. A catholic church in Kelowna is hoping to bring 12 families to the region.

“Up and down the valley there are going to be many families and we are bringing a second family as well,” explained Perry. “Summerland is going to bring a second family who is related to our family as well.”

Perry says that integrating refugees into the community is not as difficult as it once was thanks to the opening of UBC Okanagan. With many more diverse people moving to the valley over the years, Kelowna has seen many organizations take up home in the community. Kelowna has a mosque for those of Muslim faith, which is the faith of 90 per cent of current refugees, there is an abundance of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes available in the region, and obtaining translators from the Islamic centre and the University is fairly easy.

The biggest challenge facing refugees in the region is not racism, prejudice, or lack or resources, but rather finding housing. Kelowna has a one per cent rental vacancy rate for rental housing and with larger families settling in the area that can be challenging.

But instead of focusing on the challenges or negativity, Perry says helping refugee families escape the horrors of their home country is what matters the most. The friendships that are built through sponsorship is priceless to Perry, who says she has learned so much about a different life and different perspective.

While living in a smaller community can draw the attention of the media, Perry says the response is not always negative.

“People know what we are doing and send us cheques to help us because we are responsible for the family’s expenses for six months,” explained Perry. “Recently I was phoned by a dental technician who heard one of our stories and one of our sponsor father, Mohamad. He had all his bottom teeth removed while he was refugee in Jordan and he told us that one of his upper teeth was bothering him. He was told that he needed dentures. We had a fundraiser to buy the dentures for him. Then the technician called us and said they heard about Mohamad’s story and along with their dentist they wanted to offer their services for free. The whole family was invited into the clinic for free X-rays and check-ups and they were going to ask other dentists to take on the entire family to help them get the attention they need.”

Perry says the stories of help have not ended there. People have walked into the First United Church, where the organization is based, and offered ESL services to help for free. As a result, Perry’s family has been able to learn English on a regular basis and were able to keep up to date so once school began in the fall they would not be left behind.

The support for the families expected to settle here is abundant says Perry, adding that every fundraiser they have held has been sold out. While some people continue to spout negative comments about the refugees and Muslims as a whole, Perry says that as a whole, the community is very welcoming of them. To those who continue to spread hate, Perry hopes that they will educate themselves and understand where these people are coming from and what type of oppression they are facing and how important it is to help those that are in dire need of a helping hand and smiling face.

To help CORC and other organizations in the valley and B.C. with sponsoring a refugee you can find more information here.