Making a Home for Refugees by Vicki Nelson

The story Making a Home for Refugees: ChrisAnn Alvarez's Work is accompanied by a video in which ChrisAnn talks about how people don’t necessarily want to come to Canada—they are forced to leave their home and seek safety elsewhere.

In light of the siege on Gaza, I have been thinking about how terrifying it is for families with nowhere to go. Palestinians have been displaced and occupied for decades, and many have ended up in Canada. This presence of new Canadians may be great for our country but doesn’t solve the underlying issues of the occupation.

I can’t imagine the internal struggle for those in Gaza and the West Bank—if an opportunity opens, do you go and leave everything, feeling that your departure is disloyal? Or do you stay in this incredibly unsafe space, where missiles don’t discriminate and a peaceful future seems impossible?

At the end of the video, ChrisAnn chokes up as she says, “I want to see a world where everyone has a place they can call home. I think we take that very much for granted here.” That is all I want too. Whether that home is the place where they were born or a country far away, I want everyone to have a land to connect with and feel safe in.

—Vicki Nelson, Community of Faith Stewardship Support