brockville freedom connection

Picture this:  A young Somali woman who has lived her entire life in war and turmoil.  She is 18, has no immediate family left and finds herself a refugee and waiting to be resettled in a safe third country.  Fast forward 6 years and this young lady is chosen to come to a country called Canada. Wow! Her dream comes true. She has to take it; it’s an easy decision, right? Well, here’s the twist: in that 6-year time span she finds the love of her life, they marry and have a beautiful baby girl. To create a new start for her family, she makes the trip to Canada and leaves her husband and her 8-month-old baby behind. What a brave young woman!  Leaving her family and all that is familiar behind.  Having faith that she will be reunited with them once again someday.

Brockville Freedom Connection (“BFC”) is a refugee sponsorship group based in Brockville.  We are composed of local citizens with a heart to bring vulnerable refugees to a new life of safety and hope in Canada.  We are working in partnership with First Presbyterian Church and are associated with the Refugees for Brockville Committee.

BFC was created in the summer of 2019 to participate in the Canadian government’s Blended Visa Office Referral (“BVOR”) program, which enables refugees referred for resettlement by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (“UNHCR”) to be partnered with private sponsors to assist in their resettlement.  In addition to the Canadian government funding that is provided for support of BVOR refugees, generous donors had made available a private fund, the BVOR Fund, to encourage private groups to apply to sponsor BVOR refugees.  

In the BVOR program, sponsors choose profiles of refugees that they would like to sponsor.  After much deliberation, the group chose to sponsor two single individuals, a young Somali woman and a young Ugandan man.  Both individuals were very vulnerable in their current environments and were urgently in need of resettlement in a safe third country.  As the sponsorship group, BFC commits to support the refugees financially for a period of twelve months, as well as to provide social and emotional support as they adjust to life in Canada.

Nasro, the young Somali woman, came to us via Uganda in November 2019.  She lost her family by the time she was 18.  She was added to the UNHCR’s list of refugees in urgent need of resettlement, and after several years on this list, was finally referred for resettlement in Canada under the BVOR program.  We applied for and received financial assistance to support Nasro from the BVOR Fund.  

However, once Nasro arrived, we learned that she has a husband and a toddler daughter that she was forced to leave behind in Uganda.   Their names are Liiban and Afnaan.  BFC agreed to sponsor Liiban and Afnaan to Canada through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program.   Our application has been submitted to the Canadian Embassy in Tanzania to be processed.  We have been informed that it will take approximately 18-24 months for their case to be processed.

Under the PSR program, the financial costs of supporting the refugees during the 12-month sponsorship period are not covered, so BFC must secure private funding to bring Liiban and Afnaan to Canada.  Once they arrive, BFC is responsible for expenses such as rent, utilities, groceries, winter clothing, household items, furniture and personal expenses.  We have committed to raise approximately $25,000 for this effort. 

We are excited to reunite Nasro with her family but need your help! We would like your vote!  Help give Nasro her greatest wish and prayer and reunite her with her family. Tax-deductible financial donations may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 10 Church St, Brockville, ON.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely, Jeanette Johnston, Member of 100 Women Who Care and of Freedom Connection

http://www.brockvillefreedomconnection.weebly.com