With ongoing events worldwide, thousands of children are faced with living with psychological and physical trauma, war and displacement, as well as long-term illness and disability. Your donation will provide critical services to children with disabilities and their families impacted by armed conflict and displacement , including those who recently came from Palestine and Sudan.

Fleeing turmoil in Syria, a single mother arrived in Canada with her two sons — the youngest diagnosed with autism now has a brain cyst, requiring constant care. Her financial struggles compounded by language barriers and her inability to work as a result of caring for her son 24/7 have made accessing vital services extremely challenging. This is where SMILE stepped in, offering essential counselling and service navigation support to interact with social workers and doctors.

Your Donation Will Provide Newcomer and Evacuee Children with Disabilities and Their Families With: 

• Grief and Trauma Counseling
• Rehabilitation Therapy

Why is your urgent donation crucial for these children?

War-related trauma leaves a physiological impact on children and adults, making grief and trauma counseling essential for processing life altering experiences. To address the unique needs of children, rehabilitation therapy is crucial in order for children to regain physical function and independence. 

Without timely access to therapies and healthcare services, children may endure prolonged suffering and impaired functioning, hindering their overall well-being and development.

Families we assist have reported

Difficulty accessing secure and safe employment, discrimination in hospitals and clinics when seeking support for their child, neglect in schools from teachers and administration, increase in poverty and housing insecurity, regression in skills for children due to unaffordable therapy and adaptive equipment, and increase in behavioural and sensory regulation challenges due to trauma from armed conflict.

SMILE Canada aids over 850 families
Many of whom are refugees and evacuees residing in temporary emergency shelters, and disconnected from critical healthcare services and resources. Our urgent mission is to assist kids with disabilities and critical illness impacted by war with the support of our Arabic and Farsi-speaking caseworkers across Canada.

Registered Charity: 846663623 RR0001

Learn More about SMILE Canada