Calgary support group for Syrian refugees looking for new warehouse

A northeast Calgary warehouse has grown to be a community hub for Syrian refugees and volunteers.

Visit any weekend, and you'll see hundreds of refugees and volunteers go in and out of thewarehouse off Deerfoot Trail and 32nd Avenue. It's beenthe main storage area for furniture and supplies for Syrian refugees. But now, the whole operation has to move.

The warehouse space was donated anonymously to the Syrian Refugee Support Group, said organizer Saima Jamal.

"We have everything from couches and dining tables, to microwaves and vacuums, to diapers to toys to books, to cribs," she said.

"Whatever you can think of in ahousehold, we have it. People give it, people need it, and we are the connector in between."

But the group needs to move out by April 15, and is searching for a new space in northeast Calgary to continue its efforts.

More than a warehouse

Jamal said the warehouse has become a community hub for refugees and Calgary volunteers.

"Once the refugees got settled they were just sitting at home, and they didn't know what else to do so they would come and volunteer in the warehouse," said Jamal. "They would come with their entire family, Calgarians would come with their entire families."

She hopes the next space also has room for a classroom or living-room style area so that the group can turn its focus to new projects.

"We want to focus on ESL, we want to focus on their jobs and we want to focus on their health and lifestyle," Jamal said.

To both the refugees and volunteers, thewarehouse provides an important place for connection, Jamal added.

"[The refugees]don't feel like there's no family other than just their immediate family," she explained."These volunteers have become their family, they come here every weekend, every Monday night, Tuesday night, just talk to us about what's happening."

"This way they feel that there's a safety net for them.It's the entire community looking out for them"