What K-W is doing to support arrival of Ukrainian refugees

People in Waterloo region stepped up to offer help throughout the pandemic and before that, when refugees from Syria and Afghanistan resettled in Waterloo region.

Now with the war in Ukraine, community members are once again offering to help refugees and their families. Stephanie Goertz from Wilmot is one of those people.

After learning that Canada would be welcoming people fleeing the war, she took to social media looking for community initiatives that would be supporting refugees. But she didn't find any.

After contacting friends who were also looking for ways to help, she quickly put together a Google form and shared it with her community to rally volunteers.

"Because of my volunteering experience in our region, I just thought, 'I'm going to jump in', and at least host a large meeting to talk about what are the issues and problems and seeing what we could throw together," she said.

A few, quickly grew to over 100 people

Goertz also reached out to local and regional councillors, as well as local businesses and Ukrainian churches to see what was being done to support potential incoming refugees. 

"The people we reached out to were all initially from Wilmot, but then we started getting people from Woolwich, in Cambridge, in Kitchener and elsewhere," she said.

Soon, what started out as a few community members from Wilmot, grew to over 100 people from across the region. They're now amassed into a group called Waterloo Region Grassroots Response to the Ukrainian Crisis.

The group has met twice in March to figure out where they can "fill in the gaps", Goertz said, noting that housing and furniture are just some of the big-ticket items needed. 

The group also launched a website recently to centralize their efforts. They also need people to help coordinate volunteer groups in different parts of the region.

'Many points of entry'

Since many of the Ukrainian refugees coming to the region are special emergency cases not included in other existing refugee resettlement programs, Goertz and organizations such as Immigration Waterloo Region hope to reach as many people as they can to let them know what supports will be available to Ukrainians resettling in the area.

Tara Bedard, executive director with Immigration Waterloo Region, said the federal government is taking new measures to try and get people to Canada quickly, but that approach means they won't be coming through the normal centralized channels that work to resettle refugees — like Reception House in Waterloo region.

"The assumption is that a lot of the people who will take up these programs will chose to come to Canada probably because they have a connection to family, or friends or other acquaintances or maybe employment," Bedard said.

"I think there's going to be many points of entry into the region and it's a matter of trying to catch people at any point they come in and start to get them connected in our community."

Another challenge that could hinder newly resettled Ukrainian's access to supports, is their immigration status. 

Bedard said many could be coming with temporary visas, which could add challenges when accessing financial supports and health care.

"Coming into the country as a refugee with permanent resident status, permanent residents have full access to any service and support that is available in Ontario or Canada as any citizen. For people who have a temporary visa, there are limitations on those services and supports," she said.

She's hopeful that the federal government will work with the province to make sure Ukrainian refugees get full access to those supports.

Bedard said they are still not sure how many Ukrainians will be resettling in Waterloo region, but she and her staff have been in contact with local Ukrainian churches and other groups working to support refugees, like Goertz's, to inform them of what supports are available and what organizations people should turn to for help.

She encourages anyone who has family or friends coming from Ukraine to reach out to Immigration Waterloo Region, the YMCA and the Multicultural Centre for resources and supports.