Refugees arriving in London and Windsor now have a place to go for physical activity and companionship.
The YMCA of Western Ontario has begun offering free 60-day memberships to refugees in the two cities.
Jacquie Rumiel, the YMCA’s vice-president of newcomer and community services, says once they heard 60% of the Syrian refugees arriving in London were under the age of 16, they knew they had to do something to help.
"We truly were thinking, 'what can we do to help them', especially the ones that are stuck in hotel rooms with so many children while waiting for housing," says Rumiel. "We will get those youngsters in an environment where they might be shooting hoops in the gymnasium, but they will also begin to use the English language. They might make some new friends. I think everybody wins."
The federal government's decision to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February sparked the idea, but the YMCA isn't limiting the free memberships to just Syrian refugees brought in by the government.
"Our offer of free 60-day membership doesn't just apply to those government assisted refugees staying in the hotels, it also applies to the privately sponsored refugees," says Rumiel. "We know there are many individuals in London and Windsor, many church groups who are bringing in families themselves, so we wanted to be sure that they know this offer is open to their families as well. It's not just for the Syrians, it's for any government assisted or privately assisted refugee no matter their country of origin."
Membership forms for refugees have been left at resettlement agencies, including London's Cross Cultural Learner Centre. Agency officials will help refugees fill out the form and send them to the Y. Membership cards will be issued within two days.
Since December, London has become home to 452 government-assisted Syrian refugees with more expected to arrive before the end of the month.
