The New Arrivals Network will host a public meeting on Monday, April 11, for people interested in refugee sponsorship, where a longtime Saskatoon activist with refugee work will be the guest speaker. As well, updates will be provided about refugee sponsorship activities in Yorkton and area. The meeting will be held at SIGN on Broadway in Yorkton, starting at 7 pm.
The guest speaker will be Klaus Gruber, a social worker with more than 45 years of experience. He was executive director of Family Service Saskatoon for nine years and was also executive director of the Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers. He has also been a Sessional Lecturer with the Faculty of Social Work, University of Regina since 1988.
Among many volunteer pursuits, he has been a strong advocate for refugees for more than 35 years. He is the refugee coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon, and a member of the Saskatoon Refugee Coalition and the Canadian Council for Refugees.
He has been a council member for the Sponsorship Agreement Holders Association and a member of the NGO-Government Committee, a national committee that addresses policies and procedures related to refugees in Canada.
Mr. Gruber and his wife have been a part of many refugee sponsorships and had refugees living with them from Laos, Uganda and South Sudan as well as exchange students from Thailand and Venezuela. In 1998 and 2001, Klaus visited numerous refugee camps and programs in Kenya and Cairo and Colombia. In the last two years, Klaus has been involved in 22 private refugee sponsorships involving more than 75 refugees.
The meeting will also hear updates from local groups who are or plan to be involved in refugee sponsorship.
The New Arrivals Network is a coalition of interested persons and parties in east-central Saskatchewan, formed in November of 2015 to provide information and co-ordination related to sponsoring refugees in Yorkton and surrounding area. More information is available at www.goodthingshappen.ca.
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