“There were 19 families, but only 4 strollers.”

On a chilly December night, a mosque in the city’s west end held a reception to welcome the first 19 Syrian government-assisted refugee (GAR) families to arrive in Ottawa. Nadia Asimail was among the volunteers who attended. “There were donations, tables of clothing and household things, and the newcomers could go through and pick out what they needed. And there were strollers, but only four,” she explains. “So, I decided: I’m going to go home and find all of these families a stroller.”

“That’s how it started. We got together and donated household items. We had garages full of stuff, porches full of stuff.”

“All we did was get people to go check up on people.”

Unlike privately sponsored refugees, who are welcomed and oriented by groups of citizens, GARs are received by settlement workers at the Catholic Centre for Immigrants and their partner agencies. With the huge numbers arriving rapidly in early 2016, case loads grew overnight and services were spread thin. Volunteers stepped up to contribute everything from hot meals and household goods to old-fashioned human connection.

Nadia was motivated by the conviction that “somebody had to knock on their door and say, ‘hey how are you?’ ”

Nadia’s group quickly transformed its role from donation coordination to one that matched volunteers with newcomer families. “All we did was get volunteers to go check up on people. We asked them to offer five hours of their time. Just to go and check out that they’re ok. Find out what they need, see what’s happening.”

As they learned of more and more newcomers looking for social support, “we found our role got bigger. And we weren’t ready, but our hearts were telling us to do it, so we just did. That’s how we rolled.”

We’re all in this life together. We all need to help each other.

“Any one thing you can do is one thing extra.”

Nadia and her group were among the hundreds of people across the city who volunteered to help in large and small ways. Some organized clothing drives or donated backpacks and school supplies. Others took newcomer children out to skate or toboggan. A group of university students helped newcomers figure out the local bus system.

“This one amazing woman, who doesn’t speak a word of Arabic, has fitted 100 families with curtains,” shares Nadia. “She would just go with her sewing machine, measure and install on the spot.”

Some of Nadia’s volunteers assisted people to get to medical appointments.

“We’d hear from newcomers ‘I have this appointment and this paper and I’m not sure what to do’ so we’d assign a volunteer to help them get there, and teach them how to book the next appointment,” says Nadia. “It was nice. The whole city pitched in to get all the new Syrians resettled as much as they could.”

“The whole city pitched in.”

For most of the volunteers, this was their first time helping refugees. Inevitably there were some missteps as they rushed to gain a better appreciation of the needs of the new arrivals and the services already being provided by settlement workers, but out of it came important relationships and networks for the newcomers, the volunteers and the community.

“When something historic like this is happening and you jump into the ring and decide to do something about it, I think you come out a stronger person,” says Nadia. “My kids were participating with me. They’re going to grow up knowing that we’re all in this life together, and we all need to help each other. And that hits me right in the heart.”

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Many volunteers with local charities and faith groups stepped up to welcome Syrian refugees, donating their time, distributing in-kind donations, and so much more. Settlement agencies are an excellent place to volunteer, and here are a few of the community organizations also supporting volunteers working with newcomers and other vulnerable populations.

Assunnah Muslims Association
Capital Welcomes
Cuts for Kids
Furniture Bank
Helping with Furniture
Muslim Link
Ottawa Muslim Association
Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization
Volunteer Ottawa
Refugee 613 Volunteer page