Don Valley Refugee Resettlers

The Don Valley Refugee Resettlers assisted two families in 2016, the Mussanours and the Al Damooks. The Mussanours, a family of five, arrived from Eritrea, via Sudan, in 2014. A few months later, they welcomed a fourth baby boy into the family. One of the DVRR members had the honour of being there at the birth of this first Canadian-born family member! The whole family has made great strides learning English and adjusting to a new life in a new country. We are very proud of their progress.

The Al Damooks arrived in January 2016, as part of the Syrian refugee crisis. This family of seven left Aleppo, Syria six years ago and fled to Lebanon. After many years of trying to find a new home, they were accepted as refugees to come to Canada. The DVRR was given less than two weeks' notice to prepare for the family of five. The apartment that had been leased in preparation for the family was not available until March. We were so fortunate that a family stepped up and took them in for the month and to have help with translation, as the family had no English language training. The Al Damooks family was delighted when they got a fully furnished apartment of their own. They are so thankful to DVRR and so happy to be in Canada. Not being in school and not having medical care for five years has taken its toll on them, so there have been a lot of appointments, keeping the DVRR members busy. The family members are now all at school learning English, as they are eager to get to work.

The DVRR is now working with the Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA) to try and sponsor the family's 21-year-old daughter and her husband, and to reunite one more member of this family. We will also look at the 23-year-old son's situation to determine whether it will be possible to sponsor him in the future.

Lansing UC raised $2965 through donations and the Mission and Service Fund, as well as $345 from fundraising, as well as sales of amaryllis bulbs and honey. The money raised goes to rent, food, clothing, dental care, medicine and transit. For more information and to learn about our fundraising efforts, visit our website at www.DV-RR.com.

Brenda Burton, Orville Green and Bryan Ransom

DVRR current member churches include Bayview United Church, Cummer Ave United Church, Forest Grove United Church, Lansing United Church, St. George on Yonge, St. Theodore of Canterbury Anglican Church, Taiwanese United Church and Willowdale Emmanuel United Church. DVRR also receives support from Iona Presbyterian Church. DVRR has been active for almost 30 years and has settled 88 people in 22 sponsorships.

Our most recent sponsorship is a family of eight from Afghanistan. The brother of the mother of this family is a former DVRR sponsored refugee and he is contributing more than half of the cost for this sponsorship. We are halfway through the sponsorship of a young man from Syria and are also awaiting the arrival of an individual from Uganda whose travel was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The cost to sponsor a family of four is $35,000.00. We would like to thank all of our generous contributors, whether financially or with their time. Donations can be made through the following link:

(Please enter DVRR in the "message" section)

Canada Helps

Lansing United Church raised $2965 through donations and the Mission and Service Fund, $345 from fundraising, as well as sales of amaryllis bulbs and honey. The money raised goes to rent, food, clothing, dental care, medicine and transit. For more information and to learn about our fundraising efforts, visit our website at www.dvrr.ca

Brenda Burton

"At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."

― Mother Teresa