On a winter afternoon in Ottawa the stories of 1979 meet the aspirations of 2016 A Canadian smile rooted in Vietnam welcomes the Syrian spirit that is looking for the steps to the Canadian dance A burning desire desperate for better In the distance are shadows of boats, high seas,loss and compromise Then a nod [...]
We were only sure that our Syrian friends had arrived after two of the four boys shyly pointed at their names written in Arabic on hand-painted signs as they glided down the escalator at Ottawa's airport. After weeks of frantic preparation, our Syrian family was finally here. The family of six from the Homs region [...]
January 13 was a busy and exciting day for the OCRA Team as we held another community meeting, and welcomed another family to the nation’s capital. The Centretown United Church on Bank Street opened their doors to over two hundred OCRA members, as new and experienced volunteers came together to listen to perspectives on the [...]
Ottawa peeps: mark your calendars for a concert on Jan. 22 by OCRA participant David Pare and his band The Howards. All proceeds to OCRA! Friday January 22 at Café Nostalgica at 601 Cumberland on the University of Ottawa Campus. The evening is sponsored by UOttawa’s Faculty of Education and Education Graduate Students’ Association. Voluntary [...]
Altered Egos Fundraiser @ Fatboys Southern Smokehouse on Saturday, February 20th at 9pm.
On a blustery day in early January, a handful of folks from the OCRA Steering Committee stopped in for a quick visit and a chat with our new Ottawa Centre MP, Catherine McKenna. Having just moved into her new offices on Catherine Street (yes, Catherine on Catherine), Ms McKenna and her staff were eager to [...]
After months of planning, meetings and fundraising, the day had finally arrived – OCRA’s first refugee sponsorship family landed in Ottawa, on a cool winter night in late December. It seems fitting that Ayda and her daughters, Isis and Luna, reached Ottawa during the Holidays – a time associated with love, compassion and generosity of [...]
Hello everyone, and welcome to OCRA’s very first blog post! We hope you’ll find this information useful to stay informed about our activities, and learn more about what we do. Let’s kick off this inaugural blog post with a quick recap of our first December community meeting held just a few short weeks ago – on [...]
