The Town of Okotoks will have families from Syria calling it home soon, but before that can happen plenty of work has been put into make the transition from living in conflicted Syria to settling into a better life.

Mayor and Refugee Committee Executive Chair Member Bill Robertson says once the complete refugee board is made they'll have a better understand of how ready ready Okotoks is host new families.

"We're still waiting for the families to arrive, the 1st family should be arriving in two weeks," he says. "We had quite a few people at the last meeting we decided on a number of different things in terms in sorts of the setup of the committee."

More than 30 people attended the last refugee meeting a couple weeks ago where the executive members were named to the board and all that is left is to name five members to join the executives.

Robertson says the board will be looking after many aspects that surround taking in refugee families and it's not like government sponsored refugees that are supported in major Canadian cities.

"All groups within the Okotoks region are private sponsorships not government sponsorships. Then when a family comes in under a private sponsorship the sponsoring family or group of people can then access the resources available to them."

The sponsorships and the people behind them cover numerous grounds that one may not think is necessary in the process.

"We have doctors to make sure our refugees can access healthcare, we have various church groups involved. So we're going to be able to provide resources or a place where they can access these resources to give their refugee family the biggest possible chance for success."

If you'd like to be a voting member of the Okotoks Refugee Board it cost $5 dollars for a membership.