Some Good News to Share About Ottawa Roma Refugee Mama Celina, Plus an Appeal to Reunite Her Family

 

Mama Celina (right) and a very happy health care worker give the thumbs up at Ottawa's Riverside Hospital, one of the many recipients of thousands of handcrafted face masks that continue to be sewn and distributed by for free by Mama Celina for as long as the need exists.

Thank you so much for your support of Mama Celina Urbanowicz in her 23-year struggle to win permanent residency. We were recently informed that her application has been approved in principle and, subject to processing fees and medical exams, is now on her way to this long-sought goal. 

 

Our next step is to sponsor Celina's husband, who was cruelly deported in June, 2019, after living here for 22 years, and is now living hand-to-mouth while in hiding overseas. In order to complete her husband's sponsorship and finalize Celina's status in Canada, the family face the huge burden of raising approximately $6,500 in new fees which must be paid asap. 

 

The Rural Refugee Rights Network, which has worked with the family for well over a year, is hoping to raise those funds so that this family can be reunited after so much trauma and pain. You can help reunite this family by sending an etransfer to tasc@web.ca or writing a cheque (memo: Mama C) to Homes not Bombs, PO Box 2121, 57 Foster Street, Perth, ON K7H 1R0. If sending a cheque, please let us know at tasc@web.ca so we can keep a running tally, as deadlines are short.

In the meantime, please read this outstanding piece on the family’s odyssey, just published in Broadview, at https://broadview.org/roma-family-separation-canada/

Thanks for your support!

Matthew Behrens

Rural Refugee Rights Network