In December 2024, during two of our visits at the homes of refugees who are sponsored by the Jesuit Refugee Service in Canada, our team identified a critical need for refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo: warm winter coats.

Jean Gardy Joseph, our community worker, and Minh Lê, volunteer with JRS Canada, visited a family of 10 members, that includes 8 children, who needed help to cope with Canada’s cold temperatures.

“After the visit with Jean, we saw the need of this large family. Eight children to dress for winter is really something!” said Minh in an interview.

The family in question has been in Canada for over a year. They are slowly getting used to the cold of the north. However, finding winter clothing for a large family remains a challenge for the parents.

The second family that was visited was a family of 8 individuals. They also mentioned the cold temperatures in Canada.

“Winter is too hard for them, coming from a very hot country to a very cold one, I can understand them…and it’s due to the fact that they don’t have good coats and boots that they feel the cold,” said Minh.

The purpose of our community worker and volunteer visits is to identify ther various needs of refugees.

“As part of our visit, we want the refugee person or family to be well integrated and feel at ease. We intervene according to their immediate needs. It was in this spirit that, when this family expressed their needs to cope with the cold, that we recognized the urgency of the situation and acted quickly,” said Jean Gardy Joseph.

Sometimes, there can be resistance on the part of refugees to receive used clothing. To help the family integrate better, Minh shared her experience with parishes in the past, when she was a refugee arriving in Canada from Vietnam in 1980.

“My experience was in February, with the Boucherville club taking us into church basements. I was so happy to see so many second-hand clothes. And now it’s coming back, second-hand clothes are on in the stores! I even (found) some brand-new stuff…” Minh said.

Minh is active in the Vietnamese community in Montreal. She turned to the Christian Life Community of Canada (CLC Canada) for help with the coat collect. This is a Jesuit organization of which she has been a member for several years, and which is now run by the Vietnamese community.

“Madame Lan Duong and Mai Chi Nguyen initiated this collection of winter clothes for our refugees,” said Minh “I didn’t really do anything,” she added.

The CLC organization quickly stepped up to the plate. Lan Dugon, Vice-President of CLC Canada in French Canada, who sponsored two people from Nigeria, immediately took action in her community.

“When Minh called me, I wrote an e-mail to members of my local community, my family, and friends I know outside the circle; it happened quickly…My sisters, friends, CLC members and I all cleaned up our drawers,” said Lan Dugon.

The result of this effort was significant for our community.

“We received far more clothing than we asked for, people were very generous with us, far beyond what we had imagined. In addition to coats, which were at the heart of our request, we also received winter boots, shoes, clothing, crocs, tuques, scarves, gloves and some pants,” said Jean Gardy Joseph.

Dugon’s motivation comes from frequent contact with many refugees at the café multi caf in  Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, which she has put into practice.

“We’re beginning to enter the world of refugees and immigrants. We understand their misery and now we’re sensitive when we see them in the metro…winter is so hard and cold. It’s not just us, but those around us who are sensitive too,” says Lan Dugon.

After following up with one of the refugee families on the phone, we saw how grateful they were for this team effort.

“Our family was really filled with joy for what you did for us,” shared Nicolas, father of the family of 8 children. “The children are happy and the coats really protect them,” added the mother.

“I love it so much, thank you!” said Nayomi, one of the children.