A group in West Grey has helped settle two Ukrainian families in the area.
Chair of the Ukrainian Friends in West Grey and Area Nina Zwart says the group started in early spring after Russia initially invaded Ukraine.
“Along with a number of other people, my husband noticed how terrible the situation there was, and said there must be something we can do to help. That thought grew into a project that we gather more similar-minded people, and decided to have a community meeting to gauge interest in what the area wanted to or was interested in doing. From that, we started the group called Ukrainian Friends in West Grey and Area,” says Zwart.
She says the group meets monthly where they have about 15 to 20 people take part.
Zwart adds the group’s aim is to anticipate and prepare for families coming from Ukraine to the area and what supports they could have in place.
“Housing was our biggest hurdle, rental accommodations in the area is pretty scarce. We started to look at other ways to support them, we started with fundraising, we started with some community awareness, we looked at what their transportation needs might be, anticipated what school and work readiness might look like, so we were pretty ready to go when we were approached by a couple of host families,” says Zwart.
She says once they had housing situated, they worked with a Canadian-Ukrainian immigration service as well as with a group with connections to the Red Cross in Toronto to connect with two families who indicated a preference of moving to a rural area.
The two Ukrainian families are both comprised of a mother with two children, one of whom moved to the area about five week ago, and the other about three weeks.
Zwart says the host families they are staying with are in the Durham area.
“One of the host families says they hit the jackpot and they are very happy to have them for the long term. Both host families indicated prior to the families coming, they were in it until the end of the war. We don’t know what will happen, one of the Ukrainian newcomers is already working part-time, so once they get settled and a little more established, once they have been here for a number of months, they may well be quite happy to remain where they are and be settled there for the time being, and they may also wish to have a little bit more independence and have their own self-contained living arrangements,” says Zwart. “We haven’t begun to explore that yet.”
She adds the group has been approached to bring in more families to the area, and are currently looking at their capacity to financially support them and provide housing.
“We have got possibly one more housing situation that we will consider. We are also looking at the budget to determine how much financial support people need to pay to start up everything and any potential rent, their food, their clothing needs for winter,” says Zwart. “We want to support them for some time to get them on their feet, don’t know how much they will be able to work and be self-sufficient. We are weighing all of that, and we want to do a good job with the two families we have and absolutely expand when we can find more appropriate housing and our finances are in order.”
She adds following a presentation to the municipality early in the fall, West Grey agreed to help the group receive donations and offer charitable receipts for any gift over $50.
Zwart says those who would like to support the group can make a cheque payable to the Municipality of West Grey and mark on the cheque it is for the Ukrainian Friends in West Grey and Area if they would like a receipt.
For those who do not need a receipt, she says people can just make a donation to the group directly by mailing to UFWGA Box 265, Durham, Ontario, N0G 1R0. Donations can also be left at the West Grey office.
