Utah
Donations sought as 300 Ukrainian refugees come to Utah
Estimated learn time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Tons of of Ukrainian refugees will quickly be calling Utah residence, and a Salt Lake Metropolis group is ensuring they’ve a spot to stay and work after they attain the Beehive State.
Catholic Neighborhood Providers is asking on the group for assist as households filter in after having fled the conflict.
In a Sandy house Wednesday afternoon, Anna, a younger toddler, sat in between her dad and mom, trying on the e book “First 100 Phrases.”
“Cry,” mother Yana Mukhataieva stated, studying the phrase underneath an image with slightly woman’s face crying. Anna started to rub her eyes, to imitate crying.
As she learns her first English phrases, she’s studying life in a brand new nation.
Yana and her husband Bohdan Mukhataieva are nonetheless unpacking, with bins within the nook. They recounted making the choice to depart their war-torn residence in Ukraine. They watched bombings and missile strikes every single day up till they fled to Poland. At instances, that they had no entry to meals and needed to go with out consuming to make their sources stretch.
Strolling outdoors was a raffle, they usually defined that Russian troopers would shoot individuals on the streets.
Bohdan defined that their house in Kharkiv wasn’t protected. They taped the home windows to keep away from glass shattering from the bombs and slept on the ground of their rest room, away from the outer partitions.
“We lived 10 days in bomb shelter,” Bohdan stated.
“Yeah, we had been sleeping within the underground parking as a result of it was harmful to sleep in our house,” Yana echoed.
The couple finally left their house for Lviv, however life there was additionally harmful.
“We determined that as a result of we now have a small child, we have to depart,” Yana stated.
The couple arrived in Utah from Ukraine with Anna and their pup, Cola, because of native lawyer Loren Lambert, who they met 5 years in the past. They are saying Lambert taught at their College in Ukraine, they usually stayed linked on Fb. Yana reached out, and Lambert was keen to sponsor them by way of this system Uniting for Ukraine.
The 2, who had been each attorneys in Kharkiv, are actually ranging from scratch. They will not be capable to apply regulation in Utah and should discover new industries to work in. Additionally they wanted to discover a place to stay and had to purchase all new garments and furnishings.
The household moved into the Sandy house with assist from Catholic Neighborhood Providers of Utah.
CCS of Utah is at the moment doing the identical for greater than two dozen Ukrainians who’ve already arrived, who Director of Migration and Refugee Providers Aden Batar defined are a part of the 300 refugees sponsored by Utahns by way of Uniting for Ukraine.
“We offer case administration, employment companies, well being companies, training for his or her kids, matching them with volunteers,” Batar stated.
However to be able to assist the lots of coming in, he stated they want extra volunteers, plus donations like furnishings, home items, and electronics, together with laptops. They’re additionally on the lookout for employers keen to rent refugees, and for individuals keen to foster kids who arrive with out their households.
The purpose is to assist the refugees change into self-sufficient in a brief time period, he stated.
“We’re attempting to rebuild their lives and supply all of them the fundamentals that they want to allow them to change into a part of our group,” he stated.
Batar talked about that CCS of Utah additionally helps refugees navigate long-term immigration standing and employment authorization.
The Mukhataievas are grateful for that assist as they wait on their work permits. Their hope is to remain in Utah for at the least two years.
They’re additionally hoping to construct a safer life for little Anna.
“It is very laborious to depart your own home, however will probably be higher to remain right here,” Yana stated.
Click on right here to learn to assist CCS of Utah welcome in Ukrainian refugees, together with easy methods to donate and volunteer.