About Us
We are nine Canadians – Sarah & Eli, Laura, Ilana & Peter, Marysia & Mark, Jennifer & Andreas – who have gathered to form a private refugee sponsorship group.
For nearly fifty years, Canada has supported and encouraged private citizens to play a lead role in welcoming people fleeing persecution and beginning new lives here. Community sponsorship of refugees enjoys broad, multi-partisan support amongst Canadians and is considered a model worldwide.
Sponsors support newcomers in a variety of ways. We are responsible for raising the funds to pay basic living expenses for their first year in Canada. Donations are processed, and all expenditures are overseen, by a charitable organization entrusted with this role by the Canadian government. Our group is working with the Mennonite Central Committee to support this particular refugee family.
Before refugees arrive, we work to secure housing and acquire furniture and other household goods in order to set up a home to welcome them. Afterwards, we use your financial support to cover the newcomers’ daily expenses such as rent, food, clothing, medicine and transportation. Sponsors also help newcomers access basic services: getting medical and dental care, registering children in school, taking English lessons, and finding a job. Most of all, our role is to be a family’s first friends in an unfamiliar country, to be available as a trusted resource when asked or needed.
Four of us have been involved in refugee sponsorship since 2017. Ilana, Peter, Jennifer and Andreas were part of the group that welcomed Chantal, Yvette and Christophe to Canada. We have remained close friends since. For Sarah, Eli, Laura, Marysia and Mark, this is the first opportunity to take part in this intensely rewarding project. We come from diverse backgrounds but are united in a wish to do good, and to contribute, in some small way, to a kinder and more equitable world.
We are nine Canadians – Sarah & Eli, Laura, Ilana & Peter, Marysia & Mark, Jennifer & Andreas – who have gathered to form a private refugee sponsorship group.
For nearly fifty years, Canada has supported and encouraged private citizens to play a lead role in welcoming people fleeing persecution and beginning new lives here. Community sponsorship of refugees enjoys broad, multi-partisan support amongst Canadians and is considered a model worldwide.
Sponsors support newcomers in a variety of ways. We are responsible for raising the funds to pay basic living expenses for their first year in Canada. Donations are processed, and all expenditures are overseen, by a charitable organization entrusted with this role by the Canadian government. Our group is working with the Mennonite Central Committee to support this particular refugee family.
Before refugees arrive, we work to secure housing and acquire furniture and other household goods in order to set up a home to welcome them. Afterwards, we use your financial support to cover the newcomers’ daily expenses such as rent, food, clothing, medicine and transportation. Sponsors also help newcomers access basic services: getting medical and dental care, registering children in school, taking English lessons, and finding a job. Most of all, our role is to be a family’s first friends in an unfamiliar country, to be available as a trusted resource when asked or needed.
Four of us have been involved in refugee sponsorship since 2017. Ilana, Peter, Jennifer and Andreas were part of the group that welcomed Chantal, Yvette and Christophe to Canada. We have remained close friends since. For Sarah, Eli, Laura, Marysia and Mark, this is the first opportunity to take part in this intensely rewarding project. We come from diverse backgrounds but are united in a wish to do good, and to contribute, in some small way, to a kinder and more equitable world.
For more information on refugee sponsorship in Canada, see:
What is private sponsorship of refugees? (UNHCR)
Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative
Sponsor a Refugee (Government of Canada)
Refugee Sponsorship Training Programme
For more information on refugee sponsorship in Canada, see:
What is private sponsorship of refugees? (UNHCR)
Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative
Sponsor a Refugee (Government of Canada)
Refugee Sponsorship Training Programme