Community support helped immigrant family survive winter
Relief included boots and winter jackets, giving them ‘hope for this new life’
The first winter in Canada for Wilson Vasquez and his family was one they’ll never forget. They arrived in North Vancouver as immigrants from Bogota, Colombia, to experience the epic winter of 2016-17.
It was the year when snow started falling in early December and kept on through the month into early January. Continued sub-zero temperatures meant the ground was covered in snow and ice for weeks.
“The first winter was really, really hard for us,” he said. “It was so cold. People said that winter (had) the most snow in almost 20 years.”
They couldn’t afford a vehicle so they had to walk everywhere, which was particularly difficult early in December when no one in the family had proper winter clothes. It was so miserable that they felt like they were struggling by themselves against the elements.
But relief came with the hamper from the North Shore Family Services Christmas Bureau, which included winter boots for his wife Rosita Pena and their two sons, Matthew, 11, and Joao, eight. Wilson also received work boots through NSFS. Winter jackets were provided by their church.
“We received winter boots for my wife and my children in that basket,” he said. “They gave us hope for this new life, this new challenge. They gave us a feeling of self-confidence.”
The NSFS Christmas Bureau is one of the agencies supported by The Province Empty Stocking Fund, which is celebrating its centenary this year.
The support they received made the family feel welcome in Canada.
“We realized that there are plenty of people willing to support immigrant families like us,” Vasquez said.
He’s working in a local grocery store, but hopes to find work in his field as an educational administrator. His wife, an accountant, is learning English in a program for immigrants who arrived as skilled workers.
His eldest son went to a bilingual school in Bogota, so was quickly able to improve his English at school in North Vancouver. His youngest son went from not speaking any English to speaking fluently with his classmates in four months.
Speaking through Wilson, Rosa Pena said that the family is very happy in North Van and both she and her husband hope to soon be working in professional jobs that reflect their educational skills.
Wilson said that the support the family has received has convinced them to give back to North Shore Family Services and the community.
“We’d like to pay back in the future once we get better financially,” he said. “Family Services provided not only material gifts, but also good feelings for keeping going, for facing new challenges by being brave, for increasing our faith and increasing our hope as a family.”
Last year the NSFS Christmas Bureau helped 843 families and individuals.