Sponsorship 'is a huge responsibility,' says Checkup caller

From Edmonton, Alta.,we received a call from Linda Paton. She sponsored a Vietnamese family during the 'boat people' crisis. Many members of this family were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leading tosignificant challenges for Patonand her colleagues. The whole experience has left her with a less-than-positive outlook on refugee sponsorship.

She spoke about the challenges with guest host of Cross Country Checkup, Piya Chattopadhyay.Take a listen:

Cross Country Checkup4:41November 22, 2015 - CALLER: Linda Paton says sponsorship "is a huge responsibility"

Amid renewed security concerns, and with groups across the country still scrambling to find housing and resources, some are asking: Is Canada ready to settle 25,000 Syrian refugees by yearend?

The transcript has been edited for clarity.

Piya Chattopadhyay: What are you thinking about as we're talking about bringing Syrian refugees to Canada?

Caller Linda Paton: I was just saying to your producer, I was a sponsor of a Vietnamese familywhen I was part of a law firm. At the time, I was the youngest person in the law firm soI was the one taking care of the family during the year-long sponsorship. And it's not as simple as people might think. There are a lot of issues that come up.I'm hearing all these people say you just have to provide a place for them to live and provide food -- and that's really not the case.

PC: Explain from your experience--what else?

LP: My experience was thatwe received a family that wasn't your typical nuclear family. There was a set of grandparents, an aunt, and two nephews in their early 20's. They each had, especially the young peopleI would say,post-traumatic stress syndrome.

PC: That's post-traumatic stress disorder--PTSD.

LP: The family membersdidn't get along together either. We had to get two different places from them to live.

We got the young men jobs. But, because of the PTSD,I would have the employer calling to say, "This guy just lost it and pulled everything apart and everyone is running for cover."

It was a really tough tough thing for us to do.

PC: There's trauma that people face when they are fleeing conflict, whether that's Indo-China, Vietnam, Cambodia in the '70s or now from Syria. We've heard people say that the mental health support system is so integral to therefugeesettlement process. You seem to be echoing that.

LP: I'm saying that no one seems to be mentioning this and it's a really big part of the puzzle as far as I'm concerned. It took a great deal of my time and resources to deal with it.

There's also the cultural issue. At first, the grandparents refused to see Western doctors and refused to get tested. They eventually had to be tested and it turned out they had something that needed to be treated. At that point, they refused to be treated. Then I wasdealing with the public health system, and how do you get that done--

PC: Linda, do you know how this family is doing 30 years later?

LP: The grandparents have passed. The aunt has passed. The two young men--I don't know how they're doing because they really just got right out of control. We sponsored them for our year and that was the end of that. I don't know what's happened to them. I hope things went well.

PC: As you think about bringing Syrian refugees, I'm wondering, would you do it again given your experience?

LP: I have compassion for all these people, who are fleeing these horrible conditions, and I remember how lucky we are. I would contribute to something, but I don't know that I would take it on again. When you talk about one family taking on another family to sponsor--that is a huge, huge responsibility and I don't think people really understand what's involved.