I support AURA because they do such a fantastic job of supporting groups that sponsor refugees. The training is great and the website is chock full of useful tools and tips.

I first became aware of AURA approximately 10 years ago when my church sponsored our first refugee family. It was actually a couple from Iran. When we met them at the airport we handed them a welcome letter, translated into Farsi, from our pastor. When the husband read it he started shouting, “I’m a pastor. I’m a pastor.” We thought there was a translation error. But it turned out that he was a pastor and had an Iranian congregation in Turkey where they were waiting to be processed. He now has a small but vibrant congregation in North York. Their success in adapting to life in Canada was due, in part, to the help AURA gave us. Since then, we have sponsored two more families and AURA has been a huge help in those cases as well.

I am grateful to be on the AURA board and look forward to helping continue its good work.