After over a year of waiting, Timmins is finally the home of a Syrian refugee family.

The family of five, including three children under 11 years of age, arrived at the Victor M. Power Airport with their baggage, and plenty of gratitude in tow, according to Chairman of the Timmins Refugee Sponsorship Committee Tom Baby.

“It was really quite the experience to welcome them after being in a refugee camp for quite a while and escaping quite a terrible situation in Syria,” he said.

Baby adds the family was all smiles and were very happy to be in town.  He’s happy they’ve arrived as well, expressing a sense of relief after all the work put in.

“There’s a lot of emotion involved with actually seeing the family here, putting faces to names and numbers,” he said.

“When you’re dealing with names and numbers for over a year, it kind of takes the humanity out of what you’re doing (sometimes), so to actually see the people, it really changes things and puts things into perspective and it makes everything worth while.”

The work now turns to getting the family settled in the community.  This includes taking care of the little details.

“The first three months are the busiest and most intense for both the sponsorship group and the family with all the appointments, setting up bank accounts, transportation, that sort of stuff,” Baby said.

A budget has been created for the family, and the sponsorship group is helping them work with it.

Baby also wanted to thank everyone for helping out.

“This wouldn’t be possible without the community support that we’ve had, and I can tell you first hand the family’s truly thankful for all the contributions to make this possible,” he said.

Donations from the community and businesses totaled over $90,000 and there’s word a second family could be next.

Baby says they have an application in, and are waiting to hear back.

Filed under: Local News