Former refugees ready to welcome Syrians at Sophia House

It was the middle of the night when Asso Faraj landed from Iraq as a refugee and was taken directly to Sophia House in Ottawa's Lowertown.

Now, 26 years later, Faraj will be one of the first people to greet incoming Syrian refugees when they arrive there.

Faraj now works as a resettlement councillor at Sophia House, part of the Catholic Centre for Immigrants.

It's the first point of arrival for all government assisted refugees coming to Ottawa, but there are only 96 beds there, so the agency is scrambling to find other intermediate housing for hundreds of expected arrivals.

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Faraj says they don't yet know how many Syrian refugees to expect to arrive at the facility but he says he's confident they can handle large numbers.

"I don't have much concerns about it, because we're ready for it," said Faraj.  

He and the team at Sophia House helps newcomers find their bearings in their first few weeks in the city.

"We take them to city hall to apply for a social insurance number and a health card," said Faraj.

"We provide them orientations on several issues in life, how people live in Canada, the differences in culture, how to take the bus, health, employment, education."

Permanent housing a challenge

But the agency's responsibility is to also find permanent housing within a couple of weeks of a refugee's arrival.

Heng Chau, the housing coordinator at Sophia House, came to Ottawa in the late 1970s under Project 4,000 as a Cambodian refugee.

He said finding those permanent homes could be a challenge, since the agency usually sees about 400 refugees a year and Chau said they could see that number over the next month.

"We have not received such a big number in such a short time," said Chau.

"Initially for the first 100, it will not be that difficult, but what I'm worried about is the available housing will deteriorate and it will get harder and harder as time progresses."

Chau said people in Ottawa can wait years for an apartment to become available from Ottawa Community Housing, so newcomers usually rent a unit on the private market, which is more expensive.

"It will be very tough, but the family has to be very careful about how they spend their money. That's one thing we try to do is help the new family with their budget," said Chau.