What it's like to sponsor Syrians coming to Toronto

Much of the public discussion around refugees has involved how the government will accomplish its goal to resettle 25,000 Syrians in Canada. But how exactly does private sponsorship work?

Groups of private citizens are gettingready to help thousands of Syriansfind homes and builda new life in Toronto.

• What you need to know to help Syrian refugees settle in Toronto
• City of Sanctuary: How ready is Toronto for Syrian newcomers?

Turning refugees to newcomers

Annette Wilde,a member of the First Unitarian Church in Toronto, is working to bring 10 families to Toronto and Kingston with two families already in the country.

Wilde was involved in family reunification.

"At the timewe thought 'where are we going to find Syrians to sponsor?'" she said. She went to her local mosque to ask about Syrian refugees. That'swhen she found out about several families torn apart by the conflict in the Middle East,many living inrefugee camps.

She describes the first meeting with one of her families as "amazing."

"You're at the airport, you've been waiting for God knowshow long, and they finally arrive! They're elated, and you're elated," she said. "And they're exhausted and they're ill. Sothen you move very quickly from 'let's have a party' to 'let's get you to the clinic.'"

"When you're first thinking about your family, you're thinking about taking care of them. Buying sheetsand knives and forks and where they're going to live and go to school.But what you realize relatively quickly is they are adults. And you need to respect their independence and ability to make decisions."

She said sponsors should focus on being a "support system" instead of managing their day-to-day lives.

"You realize you're crossing a boundary and you need to be respectful," she said.

"When the families arrive, they are notrefugees anymore. They are newcomers," said Wilde. "They are landed immigrants. They are allowed to work. They haveOHIPright away. They really are residents of Toronto the first day they arrive."

Starting with Google, then welcoming a family of 6

Jennifer Nagelofthe group Room for Moreis sponsoring afamily set to arrive in west Toronto in December.Her sponsored family is currently in a refugee camp in Lebanon.

The first step in bringing them to Canada took place months ago. It wasform No. 5438, a request for refugee profile.

"Google it! You can download the form, just like that. It's an easy two-page form," she said.

On that form, the potential sponsor selects the size of family to bring over, based on what they can pay.For a single person, it's $12,600. For a family of five, $32,000.

Nagel put herself down for a family of five, but that family had another family member who was older. They raised a little more money and made it six.

Nagelput her form in after she saw a photo of a three-year-old Syrian boy later identified asAlanKurdi lying lifeless on a beach in Turkey. She put out a call onFacebookand then held a meeting in her living room for six or seven people. Now her team is 15 people.

The first hurdle for her was picking a family to sponsor.

"It's absolutely heartbreaking," she said of her options. It basically came down to the size of the family, she said.

The next challenge was where this family will live. She approached several building managers about offering a space for her sponsored family. In one case, she said a building manager inParkdalewas nearly in tears when he told her the building ownerwould notallow them to get a room at a discount.

ButNagelis still very happy with the response she got. The family found a place and will be moving in beforethe holidays.

"There's a lot of Canadians coming forward trying to make housing affordable," she said of all the offers she found.

She found other help fromprivate businesses. The ownerofFresh Collective, a woman's clothing store on Queen Street West, hashelped witha clothing drive. The store has found nearly50 volunteers to help get clothes for the families.

For more on Canada's efforts to bring Syrian families here, see this guide.