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Jeff Leiper
NEWSWEST
City Councillor Conseiller municipal
It’s a paper within a paper! And it starts on page 13 • Safe streets for seniors • The next chapter in Rosemount library expansion • If you build it, they will ski
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kitchissippi.com
The Spirit of Kitchissippi
March 17, 2016
The Mohammad family recently arrived from Syria via Lebanon. The seven children (not all are pictured here) are between 2 to 10 years old. Photo by Ellen Bond
Community comes together
Families, church groups, CHCs welcome Syrian refugees By Anita Grace
“There’s everything in this house. Just everything.” Marine Armstrong is describing the response of a Syrian refugee girl who arrived in Ottawa in February. With her mother and five siblings, the girl shyly explored a home that had been rented and fully furnished by the group that sponsored them.
Marine is part of a refugee sponsorship group called the Fraser Group, named for the Westboro street on which many group members live. It is one of more than a dozen groups that have formed in Kitchissippi in recent months in order to sponsor refugees. “It’s a lot of work,” she says. “But it’s very rewarding. Once you see them and meet them, it’s very rewarding.” “I think it’s a concrete way to
make a difference in people’s lives,” says Brian Cornelius, Minister of Westboro’s First United Church. First United is currently sponsoring four refugee families, and is also actively supporting 11 other sponsorship groups. “There are many people who want to be engaged, and groups are anxious to work with families directly.” Continued on page 3
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