An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's a real humanitarian disaster.
Stats:
- UNHCR has estimated that more than 8,7 million people have fled Ukraine and more than 8
million Ukrainians are internally displaced. This is the fastest forced population movement since the Second
World War.
- 90% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children, as Ukrainian men age 18 to 60 are banned from
leaving the country.
- According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of Sep 12, 2022: 14,248
civilian casualties were recorded, including 5,827 deaths.
The actual figure could be significantly higher as reported victims are confirmed. Tens of millions of people are
in “potential danger of death“.
- On Aug 22, 2022, UNICEF has verified that at least 972 Ukrainian children have been killed
or injured by the violence.
Our programs are tailored for Ukrainian newcomers arriving in Canada on
CUAET visas (work permits).
We provide career advice , help with resumes and job search, advice on finding accommodations, as well as consultations on navigating every aspect of “life in Canada”. We believe it is an honor, and a duty, to support our new friends. Their stories of survival and resilience are nothing short of extraordinary. And we are proud to help our community come together to ensure a better future for all.
How we help Ukrainian Newcomers arriving in Canada on CUAET visas
- Personalized Help
Once we talk to people and assess their needs, we spend some time with them trying to figure out various ways in which we could help them, including job search, accommodations, relevant resources and contacts. People can ask us for our help as many times as they need it.
- Career Advice & Help with Resumes
We meet with people in person or over the phone to learn more about their skills and experiences, as well as their current their employment needs. Then we provide them with a personalized career advice, as well as tips on finding jobs. We also help with writing resumes, in some cases. People can meet us every Sundays at St. Anne’s Church at 525 Morrish Rd. in Scarborough. We also meet in the Yonge & Sheppard area. Dates of those meetings can be found on our Events Calendar.
- Networking Opportunities
We create networking opportunities for entrepreneurs, thinking of opening their own businesses or looking for
for partnership opportunities, as well for skills professionals, looking to connect with others in their field.
- Donated Items
We collected a lot of clothing, shoes and kids items for Ukrainian Newcomers in the past few months. Now, we are collecting bedding, furniture, electronics, bicycles, kitchen and home decor items. If you are looking for donated items, please check items posted in this Instagram account, in our Telegram Support
group or in our donations room at St. Anne's church at 525 Morrish Rd. in Scarborough. We meet with newcomers there every Sunday.
We are Fundraising, so we could help more
- To Complete Development of the Mobile App
Our Peer-to-Peer Giving App will connect people who need help with those that can offer specific help, based on their location and their preferences. It will replace the manual work with automated processes, allowing us to help more people.
- To Offer Mental Health Support
Many newcomers that we interact with require mental health and psychological support. We'd love to offer them professional one-on-one counselling and group sessions.
- To Create a Showroom for Donations
We are struggling with storing donations, especially the bulky items for kitchen and home. We are looking for an office space to create a proper showroom, where we could accept donations and where newcomers could come to look through the items, try on clothes and get what they need.
Ideally, we'd like to get a space in the Yonge & Sheppard area or somewhere on the subway line, so it would be accessible by the subway.
- Do More Events & Networking Sessions
When people are new in the country and in the city, they seek connections with other like them and with locals that could potentially help them with finding jobs etc. Our friendly events with Ukrainian food and music are very popular and we'd love to do more of them in the future. It would also help if we had our own office space that could be also configured to be used for events, workshops and networking sessions.
- To Organize Toronto Sightseeing Tours
Many Ukrainian newcomers mentioned that though they've been in Toronto for many months now, they still haven't seen much
of the city, like downtown, waterfront, some nice parks and many other great parts of Toronto. We are working on putting together a few Sightseeing Tours for Ukrainian newcomers that don't have the means of travelling and exploring the city on their own.
- To Make a Bulk Purchase of Buckwheat
Historically, buckwheat is Ukraine's most popular side dish, better known as a buckwheat kasha. We've often heard from Ukrainian newcomers that the food banks here don't offer buckwheat that they really crave. They used to eat it at least once a week back home. Now, all they get is pasta and rice. We'd like to collect enough donations to make a bulk order of buckwheat and gift every Ukrainian newcomers that we meet with at least one bag of buckwheat. We know that that would make a day for so many Ukrainian families!
Giving not only makes you better but also happier !