Most of the belongings of a new Ukrainian immigrant were stolen during his three-day stay at Toronto Pearson Airport.

Vitaly Laktionov landed at the airport last week. Since he had nowhere else to go, he stayed there. He said that while he was sleeping, someone took almost everything he owned except his phone.

He said, "I felt very bad because I was alone, my English is not good, I have no friends, and I have no parents in this city."

His clothes, passport, and documents were taken, and an airport organization connected him to the Ukrainian Crisis Response Group (GRUC) – a Waterloo-based group that helps new arrivals find homes, documents, jobs, and community support.

The "life-saving" visa program for Ukrainians is scheduled to end at the end of March.

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Stephanie Gurtz, the group's founder, said, "They sent him to us, and we have now started the process of recovering all the documents and supplying him with clothes."

Laktionov lives in a house in Cambridge with a few other new Ukrainian arrivals; it is ideal because we are all Ukrainians. He said with a smile, "It feels like home."

He confirmed he is one of more than 850 people GRUC has helped over the past two years.

Gurtz said, "The settlement support we thought or hoped would be available to them did not really support them to ensure they can settle in Canada."

She added the group owns about ten properties throughout the Waterloo region, with many people living in each.

She confirmed that without government funding, they turn to the community for financial support.

She added a GoFundMe page (opens in a new tab) was launched in hopes of raising $200,000 to direct more rental properties in the Waterloo area and beyond.

Gurtz said, "So we can have money in our bank account until we feel we can go out and rent more properties and go into communities to help build these great spaces."

She confirmed, we provide them with clothes, food, bring them to English classes, all within a period of two to three weeks, so there is a lot of energy around our homes.