We are pleased to announce the first grants awarded in 2022 to Nanaimo-based Brechin United Church and Toronto-based Sherbourne Health.

Nanaimo’s Reaching Out Assisting Refugees (ROAR) initiative works with Brechin United Church as a qualified donee to help assemble funds from community donors and bring private citizens together for an LGBTQ+ refugee sponsorship.

Our partner ROAR plans to team up with Vancouver’s Rainbow Refugee – our key national partner for private sponsorship – and the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria to assist with the resettlement when the individual arrives. This will be ROAR’s second sponsorship to receive a support grant from RFOH.

Our partner Sherbourne Health in Toronto has offered important community support services to LGBTQ+ newcomer youth with its Supporting Our Youth (SOY) Program. The SOY Express Program has benefited from previous community services grants from RFOH.

This year Sherbourne wishes to dedicate a Make Change Fund to assist LGBTQ+ newcomer youth facing urgent needs as they attempt to financially secure themselves in Canada after having fled persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE).

We are currently reviewing additional applications and are always looking for volunteers to help us get our message out on social media. If you are interested in helping out, please email Flavia, our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@strutvancouver.ca or check out our volunteer webpage.