The Rotary Club of Grande Prairie Ukraine Relief Project is looking for community members and businesses to help fill two of their biggest needs at the moment, billets and jobs.
Committee Chair of the project Joel Park says over the next couple of months another wave of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine is expected to be coming to the Grande Prairie region.
“One of our biggest challenges right now is finding billets, [they] help people who have just gotten off the plane to get acclimatized,” Park says. “So the billets put them up for about a week or two and our drivers or the host families themselves help get them the basics they need to help interact in our society here.”
Some of these basics include getting a cell phone, getting a social insurance number from Service Canada, and setting up a bank account. During this time the rotary club also finds and helps furnish apartments for them to move into.
The second challenge the program is facing is finding jobs in the community for those who come over.
“If employers out there need employees we’ve certainly got people needing jobs. Our intention is not to take a humanitarian crisis in Europe and move it to Canada but rather to make sure these are all happy productive members of our society in Grande Prairie.”
Park adds the project has seen incredible community support when it comes to things like furniture and finances so they can furnish the apartments for those coming over. Since starting the project less than a year ago, the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie has been able to bring over and help over 100 Ukrainian Refugees.
Those who are interested in becoming a billet family or who know of a job opportunity can find information on how to reach out on the project’s website website.
