Kingston is part of a national initiative to help resettle newcomers in Canada, and this month, the Limestone City will welcome 45 people from a variety of countries, including Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.
The city is one of 31 communities across the country playing a role in assisting government-sponsored refugees as they build new lives in a new land.
Madeleine Nerenberg is the manager of newcomer services at KEYS Job Centre, the major player in the resettlement project.
“Our community has been extremely welcoming of newcomers and especially of refugees who’ve experienced forced displacement,” she said.
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Nerenberg adds that welcoming refugees is the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective and that it’s also the right thing to do long-term, from an economic perspective, for our own prosperity.
KEYS and Kingston Community Health Centres are once again combining their efforts to make sure the necessary support is in place to assist the newcomers in finding homes and settling here. But Nerenberg says newcomers need more.
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“We’re looking for volunteers who want to work with newly arrived, government-assisted refugee families to support them in making connections in Kingston, building friendships, (and) learning about the community as they establish their new lives here,” she said.
There’s also a need for financial donations or donations in the form of gift cards.
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