By Juliet O’Neill
The first question many newcomers ask on arrival is “where’s the Wi-Fi?” They want to contact family and friends halfway across the world–perhaps Syria, maybe the Congo or Somalia–to say they have arrived in Ottawa and have a safe place to stay.
That safe place is Maison Sophia Reception House. For 30 years this modest apartment building in Lowertown has been the first taste of Canada for many thousands of refugees fleeing war, hunger, violence and political turmoil in far-flung countries around the world.
In 1988 the sisters of Les Filles de la Sagesse (the Daughters of Wisdom) donated the building on Boteler Street to the Catholic Centre for Immigrants. At the time, Carl Nicholson, executive director of the centre, called Maison Sophia “a game changer” for welcoming refugees. Sophia is Greek for `wisdom`.
Maison Sophia has three stories with 24 rooms for up to 96 people; one floor is for families with children. It’s a short-term residence for refugees awaiting their first apartment. That usually takes three or four weeks, during which they attend orientation workshops. They get basic support, including cafeteria meals, some clothing, a coin-operated laundry, a TV room and internet access. Children have arts and crafts in the mornings and literacy classes in the afternoons.
Safety and hope are the two main missions here, Hiwot Abebe said in an interview. She is an administrative assistant and Ontario Works counsellor who has worked at Maison Sophia for six years.
“We want them [our clients] to know that this is a safe place; they don’t have to be afraid,” she said in an interview. “And we want to inspire hope. Some of them have lived in refugee camps for many years and have lost hope for themselves, but they have children and we want to motivate them to know that not only are their children getting a better chance once they start life in Canada, but parents as well can go to school, learn a language; they can get a job, they can live a normal life, not to give up, to have hope.”
Resilience and determination
Maison Sophia shows wear and tear and could use a fresh coat of paint and window washing, but nobody seems to notice. A plaque in the entry hall defines the spirit of the place in a simple passage from the Bible: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
The children have brought Abebe, due to have her own second child in June, the greatest joy at work she loves. “These days it takes a lot to get children excited but simple things make these children happy,” she said, recalling how they fought over handmade stuffed bears from a church community group.
The City of Ottawa’s municipal immigration strategy 2016-2018 said Ottawa takes in about 2,000 refugees annually, or five per cent of all in the country. An extra 2,000 Syrian refugees were welcomed in the city in 2016, with Maison Sophia expanding to three hotels to provide transition services.
Few if any of the refugees from Maison Sophia stay to settle in Lowertown, Abebe said, as they generally need less expensive housing to start out and often prefer to live in neighbourhoods with other families of similar backgrounds. Most of the current government-assisted refugee residents are from Syria, the Congo and Burundi. Three years ago, the largest group was from Iraq.
They would certainly be welcome to live in Lowertown, if a sign in a yard one street over is anything to go by: “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbour,” says the lawn sign in French, English and Arabic.
Last year, 380 government-assisted refugees stayed at Maison Sophia when they first arrived. The Catholic Centre for Immigrants explains that government-assisted refugees are selected from abroad by the federal government and resettled to Canada, with financial support for up to a year after arrival.
Another 200 people claiming refugee status stayed at Maison Sophia last year. These are people who claimed refugee status in Canada and were referred by the City of Ottawa for emergency shelter. They may make their claim for refugee status at the Ottawa airport or at a border crossing or while on a tourist visa and have nowhere to stay, for example.
Toughest challenge is language
The workshops provided to residents include housing, health and safety, budgeting money, living in Canada, community services and family life. There are multilingual presentations, with staff speaking English, French, Arabic, and Swahili, with interpreters for other languages coming in as necessary.
The toughest challenge for virtually every refugee at Maison Sophia is learning a new language, Abebe said. That is followed by culture shock and finding a job. The children become totally fluent within a year, and often help their parents, if they’re still struggling, by translating and interpreting.
Some of the children who come to Maison Sophia were born in refugee camps. One 20-year-old resident of Maison Sophia had never been outside a camp before the flight to Canada. Another had never used a toilet before.
Abebe asks us to share the qualities the refugees bring with them: “resilience, adaptability, new perspectives, experience and determination.” Many of them stay in touch after they move on, she said, to tell of success and to say thanks.
At Christmas, people donate toys to Maison Sophia’s children. Abebe said toys are welcome at any time during the year, as are children’s books, pencils, notebooks, backpacks, socks, and toothbrushes. There is nowhere to store furniture or other large items, and used clothing is not accepted.
Volunteers may offer to help on field trips with the children and with arts and crafts or story time in the classroom. There have been as many as 16 children at Maison Sophia. At time of writing there are only four children, among them a 15-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, neither of whom has ever been to school.
To deliver a donation or to offer volunteer time, please call ahead 613-789-4338.