November 2009 - Journey Home Community Association

JHC News
Serving refugee claimant families in Metro Vancouver
Volume 3 Issue 2, Nov 09
Our Mission
JHC news as of November 2009:
 Assisted 35 families in total (144 people) (78 children under 18 years old)
 Seven babies have been born into our community
 Four families have received acceptance of their refugee claim
 Our goal over the next two years is to assist an additional 30-35 families
 A significant number of families have become independent of Income Assis
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We are a community
of friends who share
the love of Jesus
Christ with a focus
on serving refugee
claimant families in
Metro Vancouver.
tance and have moved into permanent housing within a 12 month period
Lower Mainland Multicultural Social Services Society provided opportunities
for eight children to attend summer camps and a local church provided
seven children with a free week of camp
Vancouver International College provided numerous openings for families to
learn and improve their English.
Many families continue to use the counselling services of VAST (Vancouver
Association for Survivors of Torture)
Countries of origin include: Mexico, Afghanistan, Czech Republic, Cuba, Iran,
and Nigeria
The number of refugee claimants coming to Canada in 2008 grew by 35%
over 2007
One family's experience arriving in Canada
When Nadir (not his real name) arrived in Canada from a Middle Eastern country with his
wife and daughter, he had next to nothing in
the way of resources and the family's only
possessions were contained in a briefcase and
two plastic bags. His attempts to access his
bank accounts proved futile as they had already been closed down by officials in his
country.
Journey Home immediately assisted Nadir’s
family with housing and arrangements for
income assistance and ESL training. However,
as a family starting from scratch in a new
country, Nadir admits, “the road has been
difficult”.
Adding to Nadir’s sense of fear while in his
home country was his attraction to Christian-
ity. Shortly after arriving in Canada he became a Christian and the family soon followed.
“It was a privilege to attend their baptism,”
said James Grunau, executive director of Journey Home. “Their constant thankfulness to
God for His provision and their ability to express their faith openly has been heart warming,” he added.
Nadir’s long struggle and diligence to find
employment ended in September when he was
hired permanently to work at a company that
makes furnace filters, as well as part-time at
Shopper’s Drug Mart. This employment means
they can be free from income assistance. Happily this also means the family will soon move
from JHC’s transitional housing into a permanent living situation.
Nadir’s wife has also made progress – she
was granted a scholarship to Vancouver International College, a high-end ESL training center and has progressed to the point where
she can now express herself in job interviews.
Her command of the English language is remarkable, especially since she had little access to English education in her home country.
Their daughter is established in public school
and making significant progress in English
and as a family they are now very well connected with a large community of friends
from their home life and church life. The journey to a new life in Canada has slowly become easier for Nadir and his family thanks
to the kindness of JHC supporters.
NEW on the Journey Home Community Association website—www.journeyhomecommunity.ca
Donate online with Canada Helps—giving is an easy click away!
JHC News
In the News . . .
Making Connections -
You will see numerous stories in the media from
different angles, on refugee crises worldwide and at
home — it is good to take in all sources of coverage
A typical day in the life
of Therese Crabb,
Program Supervisor
Migrants processed for refugee status
By Sarah Petrescu, Canwest News Service October 18, 2009
Migrant men taken from the Ocean Lady, which was intercepted off the B. C.
coast, were taken to the Lower Mainland for processing. Two busloads of young
migrant men--thought to be from Sri Lanka and possibly including boys--raised
bound hands to wave as they left the Vancouver Island Correctional Centre
around midday Sunday bound for the Mainland.
Chill out, and let the refugee claim process do its work
By Stephen Hume, The Vancouver Sun, October 20, 2009
African refugee faces up to homeless misery
By Carlito Pablo – The Georgia Straight
With the low rental-vacancy rates in Metro Vancouver, it’s tough enough to find
a place that’s suitable and affordable. Imagine what’s it like for a single mom with
six children ranging in age from eight to 19. She can hardly read or write English.
She and her brood have never lived in a western city before but have spent about
Come to our first
Journey Home
Community
Many of our refugee adults have numerous skills and higher education. English
language skills are at various levels and
employment is needed in areas such as:
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Painting, Drywall & Siding
Welding
Assembly line (electrical, general manufacturing)
Electrical/electrician
Kitchen/cook/restaurant manager
Cake maker (very artistic)
Construction/general labour
Transportation (truck, courier)
Landscaping
Small business owner/manager
Open House!
Thursday, November 19th
from 3 to 6 pm
105-6125 Sussex Avenue, Burnaby
You are invited to our new
office in Burnaby’s
Metrotown area
to meet the JHC Team
in a social setting.
Refreshments served up
with great conversation!
Find out what is happening
in the local refugee scene.
For information: 604.568.4892
[email protected]
For Therese Crabb a typical day at
JHC is all about making connections.
She may start off chatting with Brad
and Gordon, JHC’s family and housing coordinators, to oversee their priorities with the families under their
care. Then she will connect with community organizations to build up better resources and links for servicing
our families.
Therese also functions as a family
coordinator so will spend time assisting her own families with their resettlement plans and appointments.
In coordinating JHC’s volunteer program, she will connect with our volunteers and support them as they
meet with their families on a one-onone basis. And towards late afternoon, Therese may look at working
on some of the social and training
events that are part of the community
life in Journey Home.
All in a day’s work!
JHC News
A day on the dike…. for the Ride for Refugees
There is nothing like a gloriously
sunny day to affirm many reasons for
living in the Lower Mainland. Saturday, October 3, was such a day. And
the best part of the day was that almost
300 people, ranging from young children to adventurous youth to well experienced adults, and even those with
little biking experience, came out to
RIDE for the sake of people from other
countries who have come to Canada
seeking a safer place to live, also
known as refugees.
Roberto, the first refugee from Journey
Home to receive acceptance as a convention refugee, and two of his children, Miguel and Rosario, were with
me on the dike in Richmond.
Our job was to provide riders with the
pause that refreshes, including some
liquid refreshments, snacks to pump up
the energy levels, and encouragement
to stay the course. And come they did,
from all directions, some of them,
mostly children, just doing the 10km
course, others being a little more adventurous with the 25km and 50km
courses, and then those fitness fiends
who were doing the 100km course and
benefiting from the flat surfaces of
Richmond.
The best part of the day for us at our
spot on the dike was the amazing spirit
which resonated from the riders. They
joyfully shared their experiences and
enjoyed the camaraderie that comes
from being a part of a bigger event and
knowing you are contributing to someone else’s wellbeing.
Roberto was in awe, and very touched,
that so many people were that concerned about the plight of refugees and
wanted to contribute to the cause in
some way.
A final observation: it was so delightful to see the range of ages
involved in this RIDE. Even
some infant riders in bike
trailers seemed to be enjoying their part in the cause.
And the older children were
infectious in their enthusiasm and energy. If nothing
else, the event created some
real awareness of the need
for assisting this neglected
group of people who are often left to find their own way
in Canada.
Many thanks to the riders and their
sponsors in this first annual fundraiser
for refugee agencies in Metro Vancouver. There were close to 300 riders
and over $60,000 was raised in the
Vancouver Ride for Refugees. JHC
received over $9000 with eight teams
and 76 riders. What a fabulous contribution to our operational costs – for
housing subsidies, personnel to help
resettle families and for many resources to assist the refugees.
John Dyck
The gift of volunteering
Volunteering is such a gift to us at Journey Home and more importantly to the families we are blessed to work with. There are
many facets to volunteering which can provide meaningful experiences, such as:
 Sharing your time - and befriend a family
 Translation services - we need people with other languages to book appointments & assist families
 Administration & writing skills - help with a Welcome
Package for families that includes places to shop for food and
clothing, phrases to use for booking appointments, tools to help
with money matters and other needs that may arise.
 Employment opportunities - jobs matched to the list of
skills/employability of our refugees
 Immigration information/advice - join our two professional translators and Refugee Board member to give advice
on how to better prepare for refugee hearings
 Donation of clothing/furniture - for newly arrived
families and those moving to permanent housing
 Moving a family - transitional and permanent housing
Every area is important - no matter how much time or skill
level you have to offer - so don’t hesitate to connect us.
Therese Crabb, program supervisor, 604.568.4892.
JHC News
JHC family refugee claim accepted!
The sparkling apple juice will be flowing in celebration of a JHC family from Afghanistan that
has received a positive result from their Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing in September. When asked to describe the waiting
period for a decision, Hussein (not his real
name) said, “it was not in our hands and there
was some fear that we would lose.”
Journey Home Community arranged a meeting
with an immigration translator who helped the
family understand what was needed to prove
their case. Most importantly he told Hussein
and his family to tell the IRB member everything. According to Hussein, “this was very
important to hear because in our country we
mistrust officials. We viewed the IRB as a giant
but our translator helped to alleviate that fear.”
The final positive result proved to be a very
emotional experience. The family was happy
and relaxed , “and there was lots of crying!”
Christmas Shopping Idea Brewing at JHC
The scent of fresh coffee brewing on a wet,
wintry day is one of
life’s simple pleasures.
Bring this aromatic and
tasty gift to a friend, coworker or your spouse
this holiday season.
JHC has for sale a supply of fair trade, organic,
locally produced coffee
by the pound or in a gift
basket with additional goodies, such as maple spiced nuts,
and flavoured syrups .
The gift baskets, featuring Winter Blend Coffee sell for $20
and up. We have partnered with Cup Bearers Coffee to provide a variety of gift options as a fundraiser to support refugee families.
Get your Christmas shopping done early and support Journey Home families. To place your orders call Therese at
604.568.4892 (office), 604.612.2131 (mobile). Or email:
[email protected]
Your involvement in JHC is valued
Consider your involvement in Journey Home Community
in the following ways:
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Join as a member - only $10 per year
Become a volunteer
Become part of the Prayer Team
Make a donation
Be part of the mailing list for news updates
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THANK YOU for your support!
Journey Home Community Association
#105 - 6125 Sussex Avenue
Burnaby, BC V5H 4G1
Tel: 604.568.4892
[email protected]
www.journeyhomecommunity.ca
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