Local churches filling the gap to help refugees while waiting for federal government help
By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
For months, faith groups and community leaders have been calling upon the federal government to increase its assistance for asylum seekers who have travelled to Canada for a better life but found themselves sleeping on the streets.
On Nov. 24, in the aftermath of the death of a Nigerian refugee in a Brampton encampment, the federal government announced $7 million in funding for a reception centre near Pearson airport that will streamline essential services for refugees – something the Canadian immigration system was missing.
The centre, which will also serve as a temporary shelter, “will be operated in partnership with community organizations who possess the experience, skills and capacity needed to serve this population,” according to a news release.
Although the funding announcement has been received with open arms, many, like East End United Church’s Reverend Bri-anne Swan, believe that the tragic death could have been avoided.
“I think that that death was entirely foreseeable,” said Swan. “Those who have been trying to raise the alarm about this particular crisis have been warning that this was a foreseeable consequence of inadequate care for months now.”
Davenport Councillor Alejandra Bravo was another one of those warning the federal government about the potential consequences of their inaction.
In an Oct. 31 meeting of Toronto Council’s executive committee, in which she invited United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to Canada Rema Jamous Imseis to speak about the urgent need of a reception centre, Bravo highlighted the fact that many of the asylum seekers stuck on Toronto’s cold streets are ill equipped for a Canadian winter.
“We know that people are increasingly arriving from African countries and also from Latin America,” said Bravo. “They’re not equipped for winter and there are people who are waiting to get inside who are in flip flops.”
Asylum claimants from nations such as Ukraine, Sudan, or Venezuela, are actively increasing the number of registered refugees across the globe. In East End United’s case, more than half of the refugees are from Nigeria with the rest hailing from other nations such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya.
According to the United Nations, there were about 6.1 million asylum seekers worldwide by the end of June.
Of this figure, Canada took in 110,000 refugees – two per cent. However, the nation has proven to be underprepared for this influx of immigrants as the current system was designed to receive only 50,000 to 60,000 asylum seekers per year.
The members of East End United at 310 Danforth Ave., like many others in faith groups, have been doing their part to alleviate these pressures by hosting asylum seekers and refugees at the church.
However, with only two showers available and limited resources as a result of a reliance on community funding, the church only has the capacity to temporarily host 30 people.
“It’s really another indication of how faith communities, over and over again, have been propping up the social safety nets in our communities,” said Swan. “We are supposed to have governments that are able to care for people. Canada has signed on to the 1951 (Refugee) Convention. We have an obligation to care for refugees and asylum seekers that come here seeking safety. But in this case, that hasn’t happened yet.”
Even though two of the refugees at East End United recently found temporary placement in a shelter, Swan said the church is unable to take in more as they are hoping to see to the safe transition of the current group into a more stable source of shelter before taking on any more responsibility.
Furthermore, most of the churches providing shelter for refugees are doing so out of their own pockets with no funding allocated yet to reimburse them for their efforts, she said.
“Our biggest expense right now is overnight security because we need to have someone on site 24 hours a day. And that’s about $9,000 a month,” said Swan.
Although East End United hasn’t asked for any funding from the government, Swan said that as of Monday, Dec. 4, many faith groups who took matters into their own hands are still awaiting federal funding that they were promised.
“This advocacy initiative has definitely been led by Black leadership congregations,” said Swan. “They were the ones who said, ‘If the government’s not going to take care of our people then we are.’”
Sister Veronica Williams-Dalrymple, a member of Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church on Gerrard Street East, told Beach Metro Community News that providing support for refugees needs to be a collaborative effort and applauds the government’s recent announcement regarding the funding for the welcome centre.
“Some may [ask questions] about the timing, but at the end of the day doing something is always a better option than not doing anything at all,” said Williams-Dalrymple.
In the spirit of tackling the refugee crisis through a collaborative effort, Grant AME has offered up access to its food bank.
The food bank serves 350 families and 275 individuals on a weekly basis. However, Williams-Dalrymple said that it is difficult to know exactly how many refugees they serve considering that they don’t ask for such information.
Like East End United, Grant AME relies on community support to fund its assistance of refugees. Anyone who would like to donate food or self-care items to the Grant AME food bank can do so on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m. at 2029 Gerrard St. E.
Any resident who would like to assist East End United in their efforts to house refugees can do so by donating to https://www.eastendunited.ca/30refugees.html
– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.
