Large Syrian refugee family kept together by Ottawa Valley group
CBC Ottawa's Hallie Cotnam shares the story of how the group Valley Welcome stickhandled their way through the refugee settlement bureaucracy to ensure an extended Syrian family wouldn't be split up.
14 Syrian refugees will call Eganville, Ont., home, thanks to Valley Welcome
There are about a dozen churches in and around the small Ottawa Valley town of Eganville, Ont. — but not one mosque.
Nevertheless, the community about 130 kilometres west of Ottawa now has a small but growing population of Syrian refugees after a local group, Valley Welcome, stepped in to help.
CBC Ottawa's Hallie Cotnam met the intrepid volunteers and heard the story of how they stickhandled their way through the settlement bureaucracy to ensure an extended Syrian family wouldn't be split up.
It's a story that involves a pastor's special skills, a fair bit of sleuthing, and lots of laughing and crying.
You can check out some photos of the family above and listen to interviews with the family and the Eganville group below.