A local grassroots initiative has successfully settled 55 Yazidi refugees in Winnipeg and has no plans to stop their work.

In 2015, Operation Ezra was started by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg to help inform and educate regarding the dangers facing Yazidi refugees and to raise $35,000 to sponsor a family to immigrate to Winnipeg.

Four years later, the initiative has only grown, now providing sponsorship of numerous refugee families as well as walking alongside them as they settle into their new lives. Through Operation Ezra, men, women, and children have the chance to learn English, attend school, find work, and play freely and safely.

The multi-faith organization also emphasizes the allowance of refugee families to openly celebrate and honour their own cultures. Within North America, it is the only organized Yazidi-focused rescue initiative of its size.

Anita Neville is a former politician who now is a volunteer with Operation Ezra says the organization has grown tremendously since its creation, now including many faith organizations and businesses in support of its work.

Two types of refugees interact with Operation Ezra: those who come under private sponsorship and those who are sponsored by the government.

"We have another 12 or 13 [refugees] en route and then we are looking, as funding comes in, to sponsor more," shared Neville.

Many issues regarding refugee settlement can take place, issues that Operation Ezra is well-versed in navigating.

"Getting the various ID cards and medical cards and getting them to medical appointments, getting the children into schools, the adults into English language classes, and really finding their way into Canadian society," explained Neville, are all key elements of settling a family.

As a volunteer, Neville is part of the coordinating committee through the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. She first became involved after the synagogue sponsored two families at the beginning of Operation Ezra.

The synagogue, in addition, runs an English language program for refugees on a weekly basis, children's programming, and operates a farming initiative that the newly arrived families can assist in.

"We have five acres of land donated by a member of the community and we are farming it, the refugees are farming it, growing food for their own use and ultimately to sell the surplus of it," Neville said. "We're trying to stay ahead of the needs of the refugees as they come in."

The volunteer says that the work Operation Ezra is doing is important because of all the displaced peoples across the globe, the Yazidi people have often been forgotten.

"They are kind of a lost group... they have no one really advocating for them," shared Neville, mentioning that some refugees coming to Canada through Operation Ezra have been among those abused by ISIS.

"The crimes that have been perpetrated against them would be described many as genocide and I think the work that we're doing bringing attention to the plight of Yazidis both worldwide and as refugees is really important."