Hello. We’re Raise. A group of Haligonians fundraising to bring an at risk Venezuelan family, living in Peru, to Canada through a refugee sponsorship process.
Your donation could help bring this fabulous group of women here. If this is something to which you could contribute, we could really use your help.
Gaby, her mother Valentina and her daughter Ani are smart and caring individuals who are making the best of a rough situation. Gaby escaped political persecution, assault and harassment in Venezuela when she fled to Peru in 2017.
While working to support her family in Venezuela, Gaby also saved enough money for her mother and daughter to escape, returning to Venezuela in 2018 to help Valentina and Ani make the perilous journey to Peru.
Valentina, a proud woman, was devastated to see her children terrorized, her granddaughter becoming withdrawn and increasingly subject to seizures, and her job prospects evaporate.
Once outgoing, Ani started to isolate herself in Venezuela out of fear for her mother, and from the xenophobia, hostility and violence she is experiencing in Peru. While being denied medical care in Peru, Ani's seizures go untreated.
Gaby, Ani and Valentina
The situation is perilous, with daily threats and hardships. Without action soon, Ani will grow up under the weight of discrimination and trauma. Further, as resentment towards Venezuelans grows in Peru, and Ani and Valentina's legal status becomes less certain, there is increasing risk they will be deported back to a dangerous situation in Venezuela.
Gaby with her daughter Ani
Ani and Valentina
The Queiros family wants to come to Canada to live without fear of xenophobia, physical and sexual violence, political persecution, and where Ani can get medical attention for her seizures. Gaby is keen to study Early Childhood Education, and Valentina is eager to get back to her career as an Administrative Assistant.
The Queiros family is coming to Canada through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees program. This program requires a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) to manage the process and a group of Sponsors to raise funds and help the refugees settle.
The SAH that has agreed to allocate three of its limited private spots to Gaby and her family is the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. This SAH is providing us (the Raise group of volunteers) with oversight and guidance and has made an application to Immigration Canada through the refugee program. The First Baptist Church Halifax is also providing fundraising support and is a co-sponsor of the settlement process. An experienced immigration lawyer in Halifax has also taken on Gaby’s application as her sole pro-bono case this year.
Raise is a committed group of volunteers who believe that Gaby, Valentina and Ani deserve the opportunity to make their own lives. We are raising the funds for settlement costs required by Immigration Canada’s private sponsorship program, as well as raising money to help them with their housing, food and medical expenses while they wait to come to Canada. Once Gaby and her family are here, these funds will support their first year of living expenses and Raise will help them with tasks like registering for school, health care, language programs and finding housing.
Thanks to the generosity of people from Nova Scotia and beyond, we’ve made incredible progress so far!
During the covid shutdown it has become very difficult and dangerous for Gaby, Ani and Valentina to leave the house and seek income.
Your contribution will help Gaby, Ani and Valentina stay safe by paying for their food, medicine, shelter and school expenses while they await the immigration process.
Consider making a monthly gift to help Gaby, Ani and Valentina until they arrive in Canada (thanks to generous folks like you, we’ve secured enough donations to cover their settlement costs when they arrive).
We are hoping to find 40 monthly donors to help.
You will not receive a tax receipt for this contribution. You can change or end your monthly giving anytime, please email [email protected]
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