The plans to bring in a Syrian refugee family to Weyburn are now moving ahead quickly, with a decision to be made very soon on who the first family to be hosted here will be, said Don Horner, chair of the Weyburn Syrian Refugee Committee.
The group met early on Tuesday to go over a list of prospective families to determine who the first family will be. All monetary donations can be made to Grace United Church, designated to the Syrian refugee families, and by the end of the week, the committee will determine where donations of clothing, furniture and household items can be taken to.
“We’ll be making arrangements for the first family, and we’ll be appealing to the community to support the second family,” said Horner, noting the committee already has enough funds in place for the first family without making any appeals to the public yet.
The committee initially had a goal of $27,000 per family, to support them for a year, but that amount has now been modified upwards to $33,000, to allow to contingencies, such as for unforeseen expenses that might arise.
A home will be made available through the Weyburn Housing Authority, plus some residents have volunteered other homes should they be needed.
The first priority for a refugee family will be to get them settled into the community, the children into a school and the family learning English and learning about the community, said Horner.
