St. Clare of Assisi Parish helps a family of four that fled from ISIS attacks

The B.C. Catholic



Four persecuted Syrians have a new home in Coquitlam thanks to a local parish.

“Canada is a new start. Our family has been born again,” said Samer Aleid.

Samer and his wife Jolyana, fled for their lives with their daughter, 7, and son, 6, when ISIS took their homes in Damascus in 2014.

In an application form, Jolyana writes her husband, a taxi driver, was kidnapped by two men. She could not pay the ransom, but her Christian community in Syria helped raise the funds.

After their neighbourhood and schools were bombed several times, the family had nowhere to go.

They paid someone to smuggle them to the Lebanese border, crossed it, and lived illegally in a village, unable to work or to go to school.

Thanks to St. Clare of Assisi Parish, the family of four safely landed at Vancouver International Airport to start a new life Jan. 17.

“We were in a sinking boat, and Canada has provided us with a lifeline,” said Jolyana.

Pastor Father Craig Scott, eight parishioners, and some cousins greeted them at the airport.

“It was amazing. There was lots of talking, tears, hugging,” said Father Scott. He said the way things came together for the family verged on the miraculous.

The parish has sponsored two families: one from Iraq and one from Syria. They had been told the Iraqi family would come first and were ready and waiting for them at least a month ago. Suddenly, Monday, Jan. 11, they got a call saying the Syrian family would be the first to arrive, on Sunday.

“At that time we didn’t have anything ready,” said Father Scott. “Within four days we found an apartment and completely equipped it.”

After the sponsorship process began months ago, parishioners had stepped in with abundant generosity, donating dining room sets, bedding, TVs, computers, phones, and bathroom necessities. This was stored in storage units and parishioners’ homes. IKEA also offered to donate and set up furniture.

When parishioners found out Syrians were on their way in less than a week, they found an apartment on Tuesday and had furniture set up by Friday. The family arrived at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday to a new home with a stocked refrigerator and toys laid out on bunk beds.

“I gave the keys to the father and said, ‘It’s yours.’ The family went in first. They were just stunned. The mom started to cry.”

Darrell McLeod, who started the parish’s refugee sponsorship committee, said meeting at the airport was “exhilarating.”

“They were just happy and smiling and hugging everybody,” he said. Only the father speaks English. “The kids couldn’t believe we had toys for them.”

Within their first few days in Canada, the family was invited to the church and taken to open bank accounts and get SIN numbers.

McLeod has wanted to sponsor refugees since long before the media was filled with stories of migrants washing up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

He was moved during the 2008 Olympics when he found out that the parents of gold medal wrestler Carol Huynh were refugees from Vietnam. “It was a great story because I thought that’s what Canada is about.”

When he heard that parishes could sponsor refugees, he figured he would try. He reached out to groups like the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Women’s League, and the parish council.

“Everybody was so excited about it,” he said. They planned fundraisers and a special collection to raise the estimated $30,000 needed per family, and gained more than enough donated furniture. “It is truly amazing, the support from the parish.”

“You get far more out of it than you put in,” added volunteer Gillian Queenan.

She was instrumental in finding the two-bedroom apartment, which had to be within walking distance of a grocery store, a school, and public transit. She also coordinated furniture delivery and prepared the apartment for the family.

“The mom just stood in the bedroom door and started to cry, and gave me the biggest, tightest hug when she saw her room,” Queenan said.

“It was worth it in spades.”

St. Clare of Assisi Parish will hold a fundraising concert in Coquitlam Feb. 6 to support their sponsorship efforts. More information is available at www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca/event/harmony-for-hope.