Syrian refugees arrive in Winnipeg next month
3 families include 18 children aged 3 to 15
After more than a year of uncertainty, a Winnipeg group bringing three Syrian families from Lebanon to Canada expects them to arrive in October.
Refuge Winnipeg, an interfaith coalition of members from Winnipeg's Islamic, Christian and Jewish communities, is sponsoring three brothers, their wives and 18 children. The children range in age from three to 15 years old.
Refuge Winnipeg's goal is to raise $120,000 through private donations to fund the sponsorships. The group still has to raise $20,000 to $25,000 to meet that goal, said Barbara Wynes, chair of Refuge Winnipeg's steering committee.
People have come forward, we've had lots of calls, donations ... very thankful for that.- Barbara Wynes, Refuge Winnipeg
"People have been very generous; this is Manitoba, this is Winnipeg," Wynes said.
The recent attention focused on Syrian refugees makes Wynes grateful her group can grant safe passage to so many people.
"We know the families we are sponsoring will be here, and those 18 children won't have to trek across another country or water to get to safety," she said.
The organization is in the final stages of securing homes in Winnipeg for all three families.
"We have rented suites for two of the families and we have made temporary arrangements for the third family," Wynes told CBC Monday.
The third family is proving more difficult to house because one of the children lives with a disability; a leg had to be amputated after he was run over by a military vehicle in Syria.
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger pledged recently to increase its contribution to local settlement services organizations by $40,000 to help newcomers and their families.
Canada has resettled 2,302 Syrian refugees since 2013. Approximately 4 million Syrians have fled violence in the country.