Donation warehouse for city’s Syrian refugees shuts its doors

A busy southeast warehouse space that was part donation centre, part community hub for Calgary’s Syrian refugees has closed its doors.

The Syrian Refugee Support Group said goodbye last week to the narrow warehouse bay it occupied on Farrell Road S.E. for the last six months, though it’ll continue to operate some programs from a small office within the same building on a month-to-month basis.

The bulk of the donation collection and distribution will now be conducted virtually through the group’s popular Facebook page.

Known simply has “the warehouse” to the volunteers who worked there, the site became well known to local Syrians, even gaining fame abroad among those hoping to come to Canada.

“We get calls from refugees that haven’t even arrived here in Canada,” said Saima Jamal with the support group.

“They’re sitting in Lebanon, messaging us: ‘Is the warehouse open? I’m arriving in the next three weeks.’”

The non-profit group has worked non-stop since late 2015 to meet the needs of refugees arriving in Calgary without the most basic household items. Jamal estimates they’ve assisted thousands of people since the group’s inception.

And when demand from the Syrian community ebbed on occasion, volunteers would assist refugees from other countries and other low-income Canadians.

“Now we see the focus is really shifting away from the basic needs, into jobs, connecting with the Calgary community and also improving their English,” said organizer Sam Nammoura, who said the group will continue to offer programs and assistance to newcomers.

“The needs are getting more and more complex, and we’re evolving to meet them.”

Syrians and other members of the public were invited to the warehouse ahead of the July long weekend to retrieve any remaining donation items left in the warehouse.

Thursday and Friday saw the warehouse teeming with families picking through household items, furniture, toys and clothing, while volunteers gathered to say goodbye to a facility that has become a second home for many.

Volunteer Kimberley Tubrett answered the call months ago to assist a Syrian child with special needs and wound up returning to the group again and again, at one point volunteering up to four days a week at the warehouse with her daughter.

“It started out simple and then all of a sudden you just become so absorbed,” Tubrett said.

“You see the call and you know you have it in you to give, so you do it without even thinking. It’s been such a fulfilling, such a rewarding feeling.”

Volunteers said the best part was seeing the progress made by the Syrian newcomers as they gained their footing in their new homes.

“Their ambitions are growing. It’s beautiful. It’s moving in the direction you want it to,” Jamal said.