The Portage and Area Refugee Coalition had some recent luck in contacting their sponsor families.

Refugee Coalition Steering Committee Member John Dolloff explains how they went about doing so.

"Certainly we've been having a lot of inquiries about when our families are coming, and what's going on. Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot to report on that end, except to say we continue to wait for their arrival. We were fortunate enough to obtain phone numbers for our 2 families, where they are in Lebanon. We had an interpreter that was able to speak to them and talk to them, and they're safe and healthy and believe that they've passed their different checks and they're hoping to come to Canada very soon. That was encouraging, it maybe makes up for some of the frustration of sitting here and waiting."

He says it really puts things into perspective when you can actually hear from the families.

"It kind of puts a human face on the project. Up until now, we've been working hard and diligently, but it's all been sort of in the abstract. But then when you hear from someone that was able to speak to them, to hear that they're excited to come to Canada. That they're praying that things move quickly, just like some of us here are praying. It just puts a human face and makes it a whole lot more real. It's encouraging in the midst of some of the frustration that some of us are feeling of the hurry-up-and-wait situation we find ourselves in."

Dolloff still has no word on a date of arrival, but feels they're getting very close.