Re: Commentary: Prime minister shouldn't be surprised with housing crisis
The commentary really resonated with me.
Len and I, despite our busy schedules, took in Ukrainian refugees for two months. They were a single mom and her 12-year-old daughter. The deadbeat dad was no war hero. He’d abandoned the woman when he found out she was pregnant.
In 2023, mom escaped from Ukraine with her girl to prevent the Russians from kidnapping the adolescent. Numerous other children weren’t that lucky.
The pair narrowly escaped being trafficked and wound up in Kelowna. That city has one of the costliest housing in the country with few vacancies. Ironically, it also has a notorious reputation for human trafficking.
Those young ladies became part of the over one million others who sought a better life in Canada last year.
Nelson asked “Was this million-plus swath of humanity, which just arrived on our soil supposed to live under some nearby bridge?” In Kelowna’s case, many people are swallowed up, in the infamous tent city along the rail trail.
By depending on the kindness of the church, the Ukrainian refugees, whom I’ll call Anichka and daughter Alina, secured housing. I’d answered a church sponsored mass email stating we could take them. But, we were not within city limits, and didn’t have safe public transit in that area because of its remoteness. However, it was a roof over their heads with a shared kitchen.
Anichka, in a desperate state, told me I was the only one who had responded and she requested to see the place. We picked them up, and noticed they sat in the back seat looking petrified.
A few weeks later, they settled into our fully-furnished, sunny basement. With the help of an app translator, we communicated reasonably well. Both were studious in learning English and eager to integrate into our society.
The government provided the woman with minimal funding, which wouldn’t cover rent, let alone anything else. If we hadn’t taken them in, they’d have been destitute. Anichka received more than many Canadian pensioners do, however.
Trudeau opened the flood gates allowing millions of displaced people here, yet he won’t look after his own struggling citizens.
It was challenging yet meaningful to host the refugees before our return to Alberta. By preventing the girls from becoming homeless again, yet another church member fulfilled their role as a type of kinsmen redeemer.
Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology states that, in compliance with Jewish laws male relatives had both the privilege and responsibility to act for a family member who was in trouble or in need of vindication. Our Christian brother, a senior, is like a foster parent/grandpa to them.
While we’d ensured the safety of those young ladies, what about the others who may encounter potentially worse conditions in this foreign country than in their homeland?
Doreen Zyderveld-Hagel,
Crossfield
