The Catholic church community in Oliver has been considering the idea of assisting a Syrian refugee family to move to Oliver. Local church folk don’t feel that we have the resources to manage the task on their own and would like to gauge the interest from the rest of Oliver.

From the information gathered thus far, the federal government would support the family for 6 months to the tune of 1500.00 per month. Months 7 – 12 would be taken on by the sponsoring group if the family has not managed to become self-sufficient by that time. Aside from financially assisting them, the greatest task is helping them with paperwork and adapting to Canadian life. We would need to find affordable accommodation and assist in job search.

Other groups in the valley are doing the same organizing. There is a group from the United Church in Summerland as well as 3 groups in Kelowna that have “adopted” families.

In Kelowna a Syrian family of refugees is preparing for life in the Okanagan after arriving this week.

The two parents and five children escaped Syria soon after the civil war broke out there in 2011. The Alshahoud family has waited four years in Jordan for approval to immigrate to Canada. They found out last week they fly to Kelowna.

The volunteers sponsoring them spent weeks looking to rent a house that’s big enough for seven people.

The family will be the second from Syria to settle in the Okanagan since their country became a living hell.

Volunteers with Summerland United Church found a small house for the Arabic-speaking parents and three kids. They’ve started taking English lessons and going to school in Summerland.

Three Catholic churches have have expressed an interest in sponsoring more families: St. Charles Garnier, St. Pius X in Kelowna, and Christ the King Parish in Oliver.

What could we in Oliver do to help? Accommodation, support, education, recreation etc. ? Think about it.