Reception House Waterloo Region urges community support to resettle Afghan refugees

Reception House Waterloo Region is calling for the support of the community as it prepares to welcome Afghan refugees fleeing the ongoing crisis in their country.

Emma Jennings, manager, resettlement and housing at Reception House Waterloo Region, said while they still don't know how many Afghan refugees will be coming, they know what's needed to help them resettle.

"We definitely welcome the support of our community. Welcoming refugees to our community is definitely a group effort," Jennings told CBC K-W's The Morning Edition.

"We're just the first stop on their journey and in terms of what we need for support, there are a couple of ways to help. We will definitely be needing affordable housing. So, any landlords or property managers who are able to provide affordable housing can definitely get in touch with us. 

"Same with any primary care doctors who are able to take on new patients. We welcome that. And for other members of the public, we would be happy if they are able to volunteer and donate their time or if they're interested in donating money to us to be able to support the resettlement initiatives that we have going at the moment for Afghan nationals and other refugees," Jennings added.

Can adapt to receiving larger numbers of refugees 

Over the last several days, thousands of desperate Afghans and foreigners have massed at Kabul's airport in the hope of fleeing Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers.

The federal government has announced it would work to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees in Canada.

Jennings said the current resettlement effort is similar to how Reception House Waterloo Region supports any other refugees that arrive from across the world. Refugees and "Afghan nationals arrive to us, we provide them with temporary accommodation, orientation to life in Canada to help them to get set up with immediate and essential services, such as their OHIP [Ontario Health Insurance Plan] and their SIN [Social Insurance Number] and help locate permanent housing for them," she said. 

Jennings said Reception House Waterloo Region has dealt with previous crises before, adding that many of the staff still remember Operation Syria and the Syrian crisis from a few years ago. 

"So we are well placed to be able to adapt to receiving larger numbers of refugees that come through our doors," she said. 

"So, we are definitely receiving both Afghan nationals currently, in addition to other refugees from around the world."