Sooke council will allow an Iraqi family to use a $3,600 community grant to help subsidize its rent.
The money was originally earmarked to pay for the family’s bus pass.
The request came from the Team Sooke/Juan de Fuca Refugee Sponsorship Committee.
RELATED: Refugee family arrives in Sooke
“We have just now been told that the free bus pass program for newcomers has been reinstated,” said committee chair Sid Jorna, in a letter to council.
“It is our hope that you will permit the funds to be used to supplement’s the family’s rent, as rent costs in Sooke are considerably higher now than when we first set our budget in 2015.”
The family, which arrived in Sooke last month, was first approved to come to Canada in 2016, but was held up in Lebanon for almost two years due to government bureaucracy.