Home Christian News Communities in US Prepare to Support Ukrainian Refugees

Communities in US Prepare to Support Ukrainian Refugees

Beyond the dozens of Slavic churches in the Sacramento region, there are schools that serve mainly Ukrainian and Russian students. Eastern European grocery stores and restaurants offer favorite foods like borscht, a type of beetroot soup, and varenyky, a boiled dumpling. Businesses started by Ukrainians try to hire others from their country.

All of that makes it easy for younger people to maintain a sense of connection to their heritage and for older immigrants to adapt without having to become fluent in a new language and culture.

“It’s very easy when you come here. Every door, it’s open for you,” said Oleksandra Datsenko, who came to the U.S. six years ago and works as a waitress at Firebird East European Restaurant, which serves Eastern European fare in a Sacramento suburb.

Valeriy Goloborodko, who immigrated to Southern California in 2006, wanted to return to Ukraine until he settled with his wife in the Seattle area. There, he found a thriving Ukrainian community and went on to become the country’s honorary consul in Seattle in 2015, helping organize an annual festival where as many as 16,000 people a day would show up to feast on traditional food, listen to Ukrainian musicians and wear traditionally embroidered clothing.

“The Ukrainian community in Washington helped me to feel like I was at home — and this is my home now,” Goloborodko said. “We feel like this is a Little Ukraine.”

Since the invasion, Goloborodko and others in the Washington state Ukrainian community have lobbied hard for support from state officials. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has vowed that Washington will welcome Ukrainians fleeing the violence. The Legislature has set aside nearly $20 million to help pay anticipated costs of housing, job training, health care and legal aid for Ukrainian refugees. The Port of Seattle has promised to help welcome the refugees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where they can begin to be connected with services.

In Sacramento, meanwhile, the state’s housing crisis could prove challenging as resettlement and community organizations look for lodging for new arrivals. Like much of California, the region is facing a housing crunch with limited supply and rising rents.

“People are coming here; we can help them; we can provide something. But it’s going to get swamped so quick,” said Kislyanka, the head pastor at House of Bread.

The International Rescue Committee’s Sacramento branch has an affiliated immigrant welcome center that’s already assisting people who entered the country illegally, said Lisa Welze, director of IRC Sacramento. Many are nervous to engage with resettlement agencies but in need of resources — particularly housing — as well as help navigating the immigration system to see if they can find a legal path to stay.

As for when the more formal resettlement process will begin, “we’ve been told we just need to wait,” Welze said.

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Associated Press journalist Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed.

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This article has been corrected to reflect that the name of the restaurant has been changed from Firebird Russian Restaurant to Firebird East European Restaurant following the invasion.

This article originally appeared here