Our purpose:
To relieve poverty by facilitating the settlement of LGBTQI+ refugees. We provide financial assistance, and help LGBTQI+ refugees find housing, employment, and access government and community-based services.
ROAR is a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency. Charitable Registration Number: 782206957RR0001
HOW WE DO THIS
We promote and support LGBTQI+ refugee sponsorship
We establish and support Sponsorship Groups
We raise funds for refugee settlement
We raise awareness of LGBTQI+ refugee issues
Who we are — and why we do this work.
ROAR — Reaching Out Assisting Refugees — is a registered Canadian charity and volunteer organization based in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Since 2016, we have brought LGBTQI+ refugees fleeing persecution to safety on Vancouver Island — and helped them build full, dignified, self-sufficient lives in our community.
Bringing people to safety — together.
ROAR is built on the private refugee sponsorship model. Volunteer sponsorship groups — made up of at least five people — commit to supporting one LGBTQI+ refugee for their first year in Canada.
Incorporated in 2023. Growing since 2016.
What started as an informal network of volunteers became an incorporated BC society in October 2023 and a registered charitable organization in April 2026. We have had 12 sponsorship groups active in the Nanaimo region.
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