New food bank helps Syrian refugees as they settle in Winnipeg
Halal Food Pantry started by Canadian Muslim Women's Institute in August
A new food bank in Winnipeg aims to meet the needs of Syrian refugees and other Arabic-speaking newcomers who are trying to get settled in Canada.
The Halal Food Pantry was started by the Canadian Muslim Women's Institute on Juno Street last month. Every other week, volunteers — many of them newcomers to Canada themselves — distribute vegetables, cereal, bread and other staples to those in need.
Institute president Yasmin Ali said Winnipeg Harvest had approached the organization with the idea of opening a food bank to better serve Arabic-speaking clients.
"Right now it's mostly Syrians, but it's open to any Arabic-speaking person who needs the food bank," Ali said.
"Word is actually spreading, so more and more people are accessing it. We started with 15 families, and then we moved to the next week, we had 17. I believe this week we had 30 families. So the goal is to increase it to a minimum of 60 families to come and access the food bank."
Winnipeg Harvest executive director David Northcott said the Halal Food Pantry addresses an emerging need in the community.
"There's a very strong appetite and hunger for the Syrian community to help one another, and I think that was marvellous," Northcott said.
"We're looking at other opportunities, especially [since] we're not strong in Arabic. We have a number of volunteers who are strong in Arabic, but they're not there all the time, so it's great to have this population take a step forward."
Another new food bank that helps all newcomers has been established in the south end of Winnipeg, where Northcott said a number of people are settling.
Limited budgets
More than 900 Syrian refugees made Winnipeg their home between November and May, the United Way of Winnipeg told CBC News last week.
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While refugees face challenges with finding a home, learning English and securing employment, having enough money in their budget for food is a growing concern, Ali said.
"When they come here, yes, they are given help by the government, but they have to start afresh. They are given some basic furniture, but they have to buy every single thing to equip themselves in a home, from a broom to pots and pans to sheets to every single thing, so the money doesn't stretch very far," she said.
She added that the issue is not limited to families, as single refugees, couples and single parents have to work with less money while juggling the same needs.
While the Halal Food Pantry was established in response to the needs of Winnipeg's Syrian community, Northcott said the food bank has seen a growing need overall. The food bank also sees newcomers from Africa, South America and other parts of the world.
"We've seen a growth over the last 24 months [of] about 1,400 households that declare some kind of route towards refugee status or refugee experience ... the most recent one is the Syrian population," he said.
The food bank says the top five food products currently needed by newcomers are legumes, fish, rice, squash and corn meal.
'They didn't expect this'
Northcott said in addition to the new food banks, about 25 existing food banks have seen an increase in the number of families they're serving.
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Almost all the clients of the Halal Food Pantry are government-assisted refugees, which is a concern, Ali said.
"This is very stressful for them because I guess they didn't expect this," she said.
"They didn't realize what the cost of things would be and it's very difficult for them to have to try to manage and budget the money that they're given, so it's a bit concerning. We're trying to do all that we can do help."
Northcott said he believes Winnipeg Harvest will have to continue expanding its services to help newcomers to Canada. He said in the food bank's 25-year history, it has seen refugees and immigrants struggle to make ends meet after they arrive in the country.
"People get into Canada and we used to fund [them] really aggressively and really well and it was very, very good, but now it's not that well-funded all the way through," he said.
"It's good to get them here, but now we got to get them integrated."
With files from Marcy Markusa