c/o First United Church 347 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2A 0E7

Ukraine Conflict – How Can We Help?

We in the EOORC have all been reeling from the news of what is occurring in Ukraine. For many of us the question has been, “How can we help?” Response to such a question will evolve over the next several months and we want to assure you that your Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Executive and Communities of Faith from a variety of geographic points are seeking ways to answer that very important question.

Below are links to various resources and organizations from which you can choose the best way to help during this extremely difficult conflict in Ukraine. This list will be added to and updated as more information comes available.

EOORC Activities

July 25, 2022 — St. Paul’s United Church, Charity Golf Tournament For Ukraine. SATURDAY, AUGUST 27TH. Edgewood Link Golf Club, 3654 Dunrobin Road, Woodlawn, ON. More Information.

June 29, 2022 — United Welcome Ukrainian Sponsorship Group. United Welcome is a group of United Churches and community volunteers in the Brockville area who have come together to welcome, support and connect Ukrainian families to the resources they need to thrive in their new country of Canada. So far 3 families and one single woman are under our umbrella, with more on the way.

Monetary donations are being accepted to support the work of this committee and the needs of these families. All donations are eligible for tax receipts. Make cheques payable to Wall Street United Church with United Welcome on the memo line. Or E-transfers can be sent to finance@wallstreetchurch.com with United Welcome in the memo line.

For more information contact Rev. Wendy MacLean at wendymac55@hotmail.com.

June 28, 2022 — On Sunday, July 31st at 10am, Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church in Renfrew will be holding a special Bluegrass Service. The service will feature the Northern Sons, one of Ontario’s premier bluegrass bands. It will be a service full of gospel tunes and joyful singing. A special freewill offering will be taken to support the Red Cross’ Appeal for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. More information

May 5, 2022 — For those of you in the Brockville-Prescott area who would like to help out with welcoming Ukrainian newcomers with settlement, please be in touch with Jeanette Johnston of Refugees for Brockville. Jeanette has created a Google form to collect information about how people want to help and you are invited to get involved at:  https://forms.gle/6RifGPabm67ayPiF6

April 18, 2022 — Rideau Park United — UCW Fundraiser for Ukraine featuring Andrew Rader, SpaceX mission manager and author, who will speak on “Exploring Earth and the Solar System”, followed by a Q&A. Virtual tickets are $20/person BUT please feel free to give more for such a worthy cause! Funds go to the United Church of Canada Mission & Service Fund, earmarked for Ukraine. More Information

March 31, 2022 — Trinity United Church, Smiths Falls. Ukrainian Relief Fundraising Lunch. Tuesday April 26th, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. More information

March 30, 2022 — Emmanuel United Church, Ottawa, is active in refugee sponsorship work, having sponsored individuals and families for many years.  They have lots of expertise in that regard and are happy to share that knowledge and experience with other Communities of Faith. Contact Phyllis MacRae pmjmacrae@gmail.com

March 28, 2022 — The EOORC has an active Refugee Network. Members of this network can help you with information and best practices about sponsoring and settling refugees. To access information about the current crisis, or other ways to support and settle refugees:

  1. Contact Janet Nield (nieldjanet*gmail.com) at the Interchurch Refugee Group
  2. Contact Norma McCord at McKay United Church. normamccord601*gmail.com
  3. Contact Tom Schwarzkopf at Barrhaven United Church. tomschwarzkopf*outlook.com
  4. Contact one of the many United Church sponsoring groups in the EOORC, such as Refuge NOW, Kanata Stittsville Refugee Sponsoring Group, FACES, the IRG, and South Nepean Muslim Community.
  5. Contact one of the other individual congregations active in refugee ministry: Rideau Park United Church, Kitchissippi United Church, First United Church, Riverside United Church.

* Emails that have been supplied with a ‘*’ need to be changed to’@’.

Resources

June 20, 2022 — Contak Employment Agency. We’re based in Hawkesbury, one hour away from Ottawa and Montreal. (https://vivreahawkesbury.ca/en/home/) We’re part of the Prescott Russel counties.  We’d like to help Ukrainian refugees find a suitable job in our Region. We already organized several events online to offer them different resources, but most of them plan on going to other provinces. We have 50+ job offers that you can consult here. We strongly recommend them come here for future employment. We would love to be in contact with people coming to Ottawa.

To support humanitarian aid for Ukrainians in the Ukraine or neighbouring countries
  1. Through UNHCR, donate here: https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en
  2. Through the Red Cross, donate here: https://donate.redcross.ca/page/100227/donate/1?locale=en-CA
  3. Through the United Church of Canada, donate here: https://united-church.ca/social-action/act-now/ukraine-crisis
  4. Through the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, see here: https://www.ucc.ca/

Ukrainian nationals may apply for temporary residency in Canada, to have safe haven in Canada during the war. Information is HERE.

There are settlement agencies in Ottawa and the region with many ways to support newcomers (settlement support, mental health support, translations services, etc.), and to assist those who are assisting the newcomer. To support or access these settlement agencies, or to donate or to volunteer:

  1. Jewish Family Services: https://www.jfsottawa.com/
  2. Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organisation: https://ociso.org/
  3. Catholic Centre for Immigrants : https://cciottawa.ca/
  4. Helping with Furniture: https://www.hwfottawa.org/
Learn more about refugees, sponsorship, and advocacy:
  1. Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP): https://www.rstp.ca/en/
  2. Refugee 613: https://www.refugee613.ca/ and here: https://www.refugee613.ca/blogs/news/responding-to-the-crisis-in-ukraine
  3. Canadian Council for Refugees: https://ccrweb.ca/
  4.  Resource Guide for Refugees and Newcomers.Settlement Agencies Ottawa Jewish Family Services