Thorncliffe House: a safe house for refugees
Registered Name: 614 Church
Business No: 843182197RR0001
This organization is designated by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a registered charity. They comply with the CRA's requirements and has been issued a charitable registration number.
A long-term safe house and first (Canadian) home for refugees
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Jesus Network and the Afghan Church, with the support of many generous donors, began the process of sponsoring many Christian Afghan refugee families to Canada. Before the crisis, we were on track to sponsor 3 families; after the crisis, we are now on track to sponsor 54 families.
Housing is a major challenge when refugee families arrive
When a refugee family arrives, we have to secure safe and stable housing for them. The main challenges are:
- We often only have days' notice that a family will be getting arriving, so we have to scramble to find an appropriate home.
- Sometimes a family is delayed at the last moment and we end up paying rent for an empty apartment.
- Every family has different housing needs.
- As much as possible, we want to place families near necessary social and support services, and near each other.
- Cost of rent has been skyrocketing.
A supporter suggested the idea a refugee house: a permanent, long-term safe house where families can stay when they arrive in Canada until permanent housing is found. It would let us focus on helping the families get settled (e.g. get health cards, register for school, etc.) without the hectic scramble to immediately rent and furnish an apartment each time a family arrives.