Dear Supporters,

We hope you all are doing well!

It’s been a long time, and the silence from our end means our families have settled into the rhythm of routine.

Here are some updates:

We’re still in touch with our Syrian family. Father continues to commute to work from his home at Victoria Park and Lawrence to Mississauga, putting in 12 hour days. Both mom and dad are continuing to learn English on a part-time basis, and their girls are transitioning into their teenage years in stride. They have a very large community of friends around them; the family is also helping newcomers from Syria transition into life in Toronto. Paying it forward!

As you know, we are currently supporting our Eritrean family, Senait* and Adjam*, whose official sponsorship period ends this August. Weekly, we are ensuring Senait feels connected to us (and us, to her!) by visiting weekly and ensuring she receives any help she needs navigating life in Toronto. Senait has ambitions of attending college and catching up with her son Adjam, who is near fluent in English. We are also grateful to community members, both in Port Union Cares and beyond, who have stepped up with support for Adjam. Thanks to their financial contributions and advocacy, Adjam has access to camp programming for a couple of weeks in the summer months.

BIG NEWS: Our third Afghan family arrives the first week of July! This time, in addition to the continued support of the Church of St. Jude, Wexford, we are also working in partnership with a cousin of the family here to support them. This partnership has been invaluable, with their cousin shouldering significant responsibility.

The family is composed of a single mother, Ms. Zarmina* and two children. Zarmina is a member of a minority group and was facing persecution in Afghanistan. She and her husband fled Afghanistan to Iran to save their lives. After the passing of her husband, she spent almost two decades living as a refugee in Iran, where she ran a home-based tailoring business in order to support her family. A few years ago, Zarmina fled to Turkey with her two children in order to avoid being forcibly returned to Afghanistan by the Iranian government, who would no longer offer her protection. In Turkey, she applied for protection through the UNHCR, who approved her request. Now, she and her children have an opportunity to begin a new life here in Canada.

OUR ASK: This link contains items needed for our family. Big ticket items include: dressers and bed frames, living room furniture, a television and a computer. We can provide dimensions if you have items in good condition. Please contact portunioncares@gmail.com to coordinate pickup.

As always, we welcome financial contributions through Canada Helps. You will receive a tax receipt for your donation. Anything we raise beyond the minimum requirement goes toward supporting the young children in our sponsored families. None of the funds collected go toward overhead or administrative costs — we all do this work entirely as volunteers in service to our community.

Thank you for your support!

*Identifying information, including names, have been omitted to protect privacy