Frances Barry heard the calls for help for refugees, realized it was the perfect juxtaposition of “need, desire and opportunity” and quickly got to work gathering a group of engaged and dynamic people to fundraise the $35,000 for a family fleeing war-torn Syria.

Working with non-profit Humanity First, the group learned their sponsorship would be fast-tracked to bring extended family to the area as support for a mom and five kids newly arrived in nearby Unionville.

On Monday night, it all came together, with three families reuniting and joining the mother who arrived here last month.

And now they are here in her parents, Jim and Mary Barry’s, Richmond Hill home, discovering Canada and rediscovering each other again after untold trauma in their beleaguered homeland.

Frances has just put in a 12-hour night nursing shift at the Hospital for Sick Children, but it doesn’t seem to slow her down as she helps chauffeur the newcomers to appointments at the local Welcome Centre.

Her parents have opened their home to one of the families — a mom, dad, two young girls and a baby boy.

Every day, they host at least 14 people for lunch and dinner: the Barry’s sponsored family, a sibling family of four (living a block away with a man whose wife recently passed away; he had space to spare, but no ability to cook for them) along with the Barry’s own family.

It was all charades and miming until someone discovered Google Translate. Now they keep the app running on an iPad at all times, Jim says.

The kids seem to communicate with each other more easily, slipping into the universal language of play at the Mill Pond Park. The snow has them enthralled, five-year-old Amira especially. She has fallen in love with her new snow pants and hates to take them off.

“This feels like a new life for me,” Mary says, “a whole new beginning.”

As he drives them around town, Jim points out the names of things. They saw a bulldozer parked outside the No Frills plaza and Mohamed (one of the young fathers) leaped out of the car with excitement, asking for the English words. He was a bulldozer operator back home.

Another group from this extended family is living in a Stouffville home. It’s all temporary, though. Within a few weeks, they hope to be settled in apartments in Richmond Hill close to each other.

On the table, plates are filled with dates and olives and an aromatic stew on rice, all halal food prepared by the “good people” of Richmond Hill and beyond, based on recipes they gleaned from syriancooking.com.

WELL-WISHERS ARRIVE

A steady stream of well-wishers arrives on the doorstep laden with gifts and homemade meals. Bob Lato, a retired ESL teacher, brings material to help the family learn new words; soup comes with Izhar and Jane Haque. They are struck by how unconditionally these newcomers have been welcomed here, and how trusting they are with their futures.

Brigeen Tracy, another member of the sponsoring team, sits cross-legged on the floor with two of the younger children as they open books she purchased for them, part of a box full of gifts she has delivered with fruit, hummus and a big batch of soup cooked up by her father.

In the busy kitchen, the Barry fridge has started making strange new noises. They call Karl and Sons Appliances, a local repairman. He rushes to the rescue, fixes the problem and leaves without accepting payment.

This kind of generosity surprises them all.

The community has stepped up to offer housing, open bank accounts, set up doctor appointments and introduce the newcomers to Canadian grocery shopping.

The team put out a call for highchairs and three appeared on the driveway that day. When the Barrys realized they no longer had children’s books, a collection appeared at their front door, donated by Covernotes.

Frances hoped this experience would show her children that the world is bigger than Richmond Hill and is full of good people. It appears to have worked.

JUST TWO SUITCASES

Her daughter Kathleen, 12, imagines what it would be like, leaving home with all her family’s belongings packed into two suitcases. It is hard to fathom, she says.

She has been talking with one of the young fathers, hearing about how he was shot, looked at pictures he brought on a memory stick from life back in Syria and Turkey.

“They’re very happy people, even though they have been through so much.”

Through a translator, Mohamed says he is still haunted by flashbacks. He tries to smile, but can’t block the images of those he loves who remain in “very bad life, still suffering.”

For the first time in seven years, the extended family was able to attend mosque together Friday and begin the long process of healing and moving forward.

They are eager to speak to the community, despite the language barrier, and through a translator on the end of the phone line, they share their messages one after the other:

“I can’t believe we are in Canada,” Yasmin says. “People are willing to give us things without our asking, without our being able to give something in return. It is like a dream.”

“I wish all those who have problems [in Syria and Turkey] could see how good a place is Canada,” adds Bushra.

“It is hard to believe the kindness here,” says mother and grandmother Amira. “Strangers open their doors, open their homes to us.”

“These people are all family to me,” Yasin gestures towards the room filled with new Canadian friends.

“They are more than family. We are so happy to be away from problems and being afraid every day... We thank God and human beings for giving us back a future for ourselves and our children.”