Communities Acting Together for Change & Hope offers help to Ukrainian refugees

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in February of last year, more than 25 million Ukrainian citizens have relocated to other countries as refugees. A North Dakotan organization thinks that connecting refugees with local communities could be beneficial for everyone.

More than 9,000 civilians have died since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and more than 16,000 have been injured. The war has displaced at least 25 million people.

The North Dakota organization CATCH, which is short for Communities Acting Together for Change & Hope, thinks that placing refugees into rural communities with plenty of open jobs and empty houses could benefit everyone involved.

“That’s a wonderful power that the community has, is to overcome their fear and apprehension and their sense that ‘we can’t do anything’ and allow other people into their life,” Bill Patrie, CATCH’s vice president, said.

Patrie along with eight other directors formed CATCH in April 2022. He says that the program is still “relatively unknown,” even though it was awarded a grant through Strengthen ND, which was funded by the Bush Foundation.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here in North Dakota for folks, and we can be good neighbors,” Megan Langley, Strengthen ND’s executive director, said.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has created more than 25 million refugees. About 270,000 of those people have come to the U.S., and at least 160 came to North Dakota for oil jobs through the Uniting for Ukraine program. CATCH wants to do something similar, and not just with refugees.

“The long-term goal is to increase the number of permanent residents in rural North Dakota working through immigration,” David Jenkins, CATCH’s executive director, said.

CATCH’s current goal is to act as a bridge between potential sponsors and refugees or immigrants, and money isn’t the only thing they need to make that happen.

“We also need to find local supporters that’ll come alongside and say, ‘Yeah, we think that capacity is here, too,’” Rev. Tom Granger, CATCH’s president, said.

More information about CATCH can be found on Strengthen ND’s website or through the program’s board of directors.

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