Refugee advocates honoured

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This article was published 17/04/2021 (1970 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a year’s delay due to the global pandemic, two longtime refugee advocates will be honoured for work now being hampered by COVID-19.

The Catholic Foundation of Manitoba plans to recognize Tom Denton and Karin Gordon of the Hospital House Refugee Ministry with a service award at its annual Caritas banquet, held virtually on Thursday, April 22. The event was cancelled last year because of shutdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We have very few (refugees) coming because COVID threw a huge wrench in processing refugees overseas,” says Gordon, estimating refugee resettlement is down by 75 per cent since the pandemic began.

The non-profit refugee ministry founded in 1992 by Sister Aileen Gleason and the Sisters of Our Lady of the Mission helps about 100 people relocate to Canada annually, many sponsored by family or community groups. Gordon manages two refugee reception houses in north Winnipeg, one a former six-bedroom Anglican manse on Mortimer Place and the other a nine-bedroom building, part of the Luther Home complex on Andrews Street.

Currently, she’s living in the Andrews Street house, helping newcomers understand how to navigate life in Canada, including taking them grocery shopping and how to use western kitchen appliances.

“Everyone calls me mom because I’m old enough to be everyone’s mom,” explains the 74-year-old Gordon, mother of three and grandmother to six.

“I’m always pushing people to be independent because I don’t know how long I’m going to be around Hospitality House.”

For many years, Denton worked the administrative side of the ministry, scaling back his hours last year due to health issues, and now carrying the title of chief executive officer emeritus. Involved in refugee work for the past four decades, including a 16-year stint at the former International Centre, he’s helped tens of thousands of people find new lives in Canada.

At 86, the former lawyer and founding publisher of the Winnipeg Sun doesn’t plan to let his age stop him from helping as many more as he can.

“These are all God’s people and some of us are fortunate to be born into this country and benefit from that,” says the Nova Scotia native who can count back 15 generations of his family living in Canada or the colonies that pre-dated Confederation.

“There is no innate superiority in that and we all have obligations to help others.”

That strong sense of obligation to help is why the Catholic Foundation decided to honour Denton and Gordon, says board member Julie Turenne-Maynard, chair of the Caritas dinner.

“These are two people who are doing the work from the very bottom of their hearts and despite their age, continue to do so,” she says of the service award handed out for the third time.

She expects several hundred people to attend the virtual event, which includes a catered home-delivered meal and a ceremony livestreamed from Parish of Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens in Windsor Park. The foundation is also bestowing their Caritas Award to Centre Flavie-Laurent, a St. Boniface non-profit organization which provides free furniture, household goods and clothing to vulnerable people.

Turenne-Maynard says Gordon and Denton don’t seek out recognition for their efforts and exemplify the type of servant-leadership the foundation wants to encourage.

“They’re making a difference in our society and they’re improving people’s lives for no credit,” she says.

Not only do they improve lives, but they also save them, says Martin Mulimbwa, who asked Denton and Gordon to help bring 13 family members to Winnipeg from Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002.

“Without them, so many refugees wouldn’t have a voice and they wouldn’t have an opportunity,” said Mulimbwa, a network engineer who looks after the ministry’s computers.

“They are God-sent.”

Both Gordon and Denton prefer to focus attention on the plight of refugees, with more than 80 million refugees or internally displaced people in the world.

They say the demand for sponsorship far exceeds capacity, and that situation can only be changed by political will.

“I’m not looking for any recognition for myself but I’m really please for the recognition (for the work) done by many,” says Gordon, who grew up hearing stories of how her grandparents assisted newcomers to Canada.

Denton plans to use his semi-retirement to write a book about Canadian refugee policy over the past decades to provide a larger perspective on how — and why — the country opens up its border to only a limited number of newcomers.

“I think it’s wrong-headed and it resulted in Canada being a smaller country rather than a big one,” he says.

brenda@suderman.com

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