Agency workers struggle to find permanent housing for families

Waterloo Region Record

KITCHENER — The number of Syrian refugee families staying at a Kitchener hotel continues to grow as agency workers struggle to find permanent housing for them.

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There are now about 220 refugees living at the Howard Johnson hotel on Weber Street. That's almost doubled from about a week ago.

"It's less than ideal but better than being in refugee camps," said Bert Lobe, executive director of Reception House Waterloo Region on David Street in Kitchener.

Forty refugees arrived at Reception House on Sunday. The David Street house is one of 36 centres across Canada taking in the 25,000 Syrian refugees the federal government is committed to resettling.

Lobe said there are 277 refugees waiting for permanent accommodation: 32 are at Reception House, 25 are staying at DH Food and Lodging in St. Jacobs and 220 are at the hotel.

The inn, DH Food and Lodging, was set to close in December but owners are lending the space that can house up to 25 people.

On Monday, a meeting was held at the Howard Johnson hotel with refugees, Reception House workers and regional staff to reassure the families that staff is working diligently to find them a home.

Since Jan. 14, Reception House has found housing for 18 families and this week another seven families will move into permanent homes, he said.

But many of the Syrian families are anxious to leave the hotel, and are looking for places on their own on Kijjii, Lobe said.

Lobe said he hopes to have local mosque leaders speak to the refugees, asking them to be patient and let staff help them.

"They have clear ideas of what they want to live in," he said.

It used to be that Reception House staff would offer a family three possible site suggestions, but that is no longer the case, Lobe said.

Instead, families are told where they will live and sometimes families resist, he said. Two recent families did not want to live in the rural areas outside of the region because it was too far from the city.

Lobe said it's important that Reception House workers have two weeks to ensure families have an understanding of the region, along with knowledge about doctors, dentists, policing, banking, and schooling.

"Their desire to settle is very high but it is awful hard to manage," he said.

Lobe said Reception House has received extra funding from the federal and provincial governments, allowing them to hire more staff.

They have hired an additional seven staff and are in the process of employing up to four more.

Every morning, Lobe said he meets with his staff to go over numbers, how refugees are doing and where staff is looking for housing.

lmonteiro@therecord.com , Twitter: @MonteiroRecord