Two Years Later: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Dear Friends,

It’s been a little over two years since Russia’s most recent historical invasion of Ukraine, marking the beginning of an ongoing conflict that has forced approximately 14 million Ukrainian nationals to flee their country - up 93% since this time last year.

Since the launch of the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program in April 2022, more than 178,000 Ukrainian refugees were sponsored by U.S. residents, offering these individuals a pathway to safety and an opportunity to regain a sense of stability- even if temporary- in a new community that welcomes them.

For the Ukrainian refugees across Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, our Refugee and Immigrant Services team members who serve these particular refugees (most of whom are Ukrainian born) act as an indispensable resource, supporting them as they navigate new pathways essential for establishing stability and success, such as securing employment, enrolling in education programs, and connecting them to spaces of fellowship and community. As we work to help these individuals adjust to life in the U.S., we have also been working to advocate for them and uplift their culture and the contributions they make to our local communities.

Last Tuesday, the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that Ukrainians who entered the U.S. as Humanitarian Parolees are eligible to apply for re-parole, extending their visa by an additional two years if approved. We applaud this decision and are relieved that there is hope and greater certainty for our clients in what the short-term future may hold.

As we reflect on the work we’ve done in the past two years to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we’d like to introduce you to a very special family we’ve been blessed to walk alongside on their path from surviving to thriving!

Meet The Sorohin Family (Cumming, GA):

Yuliia, a linguist and interpreter, met her husband Andrii while he was studying to become an MD. After graduating in 2003, Andrii began his residency at a major hospital in Kyiv, marking the beginning of an impressive and dynamic career in the medical field and pharmaceutical industry. He and Yuliia would get married, welcome four children to their family, and continue building their lives and careers in Ukraine’s capital city.

However, by autumn of 2022, Russian forces had started bombing and shooting in major cities, destroyed many electrical stations, creating chaos, destruction and blackout throughout Ukraine. Yuliia notes the poignancy of this moment - her family cold, afraid, and surrounded by darkness, recognized it was no longer safe to stay. Saying goodbye to their beloved family, pets, neighbors, and family home, they made the heartbreaking yet necessary decision to leave Kiev.

Following a brief stay in Poland, the Sorohin family arrived in the U.S. in April 2023 through the Uniting for Ukraine sponsorship program. After initially spending some time with a sponsor in California, the family received an opportunity to relocate to Georgia. Thanks to a loan from a generous friend, Andrii and Yuliia purchased a used car and together with their four children, kicked off their cross-country road trip that would land them in Cumming.

Thanks to friends and American sponsors in Georgia, the family was able to settle and adapt in Cumming. The family who hosted the Sorohins were very kind and good people but as a family of six, they would soon need to find their own place and begin their own pathway forward in the U.S.

With the support and guidance of Inspiritus, Andrii and Yuliia were able to move out of their sponsor’s home and into their own place within three months of arriving. Additionally, our team worked with Andrii and Yuliia to get their (many) collective degrees translated and evaluated so they can be officially recognized among U.S. employers and educational institutions. It was through this experience that Andrii soon realized that state licensing policies do not offer a streamlined pathway for foreign-trained physicians like him to practice medicine in the state of Georgia. Reducing barriers to relicensing for foreign-trained doctors like him is a cause for which he’s become a community advocate and has even discussed with Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger last month.

While he hopes to one day practice medicine again here in Georgia, in the meantime, Andrii works as a Pharmaceutical Technician at a local pharmacy where he’s able to remain connected to the medical field. Yuliia has thrown herself into nonprofit work as a regular volunteer with the U4UKids Project, a program dedicated to helping Ukrainian children whose fathers died in the war. Their eldest son, Daniel (18), is working his short-term dream job as a Starbucks barista while he works on his long-term dream of going to college for fashion design. Their other children, whose ages range from 16, 11, and 7 are loving their Forsyth County neighborhood schools and have course achievements. The family has joined a nearby Evangelical church, where they’ve found a place of community and fellowship.

Despite all the challenges and hardships this family has endured, these experiences have done little to shake the family’s faith and optimism. When asked about their hopes for the future, Yuliia remarks, “We believe that God will help us. Our hope is to have a good possibility for life in America. Good jobs, good moments…But our heart is broken about Ukraine. We know the war is evil. Good must win. It is painful to discuss, but as Bible teaches us, what your hand can do – do it with all your might! In other words: if you can help, you must help (Ecclesiastes 9:10). We try to help in any way we can…we don’t know how long the [Uniting for Ukraine] program will last but while we are here, we will help in any way to our Homeland.”

As a final thought, the Sorohin family has a message to share with our state lawmakers and the American people:

“Ukrainian families across the world ask you to continue praying for Ukraine, for the victory of good over evil, for God's blessing for Ukraine, and we ask you to support the people of Ukraine in this difficult time. Your contribution to start our lives here is so important and significant and we appreciate it! Thank you for your strong support. God bless Ukraine. God Bless America. Glory to God.”

With gratitude,

Aimee Zangandou
Executive Director of Refugee & Immigrant Services
Inspiritus

Team Libertad Joins Inspiritus

Dear Friend,

Inspiritus is proud to announce the addition of Team Libertad to our current suite of programs aimed at serving Georgia’s Refugee and Immigrant communities. Team Libertad was founded in May 2022 with the purpose of providing resources and assistance to recently detained asylum seekers who are leaving Georgia to reunite with loved ones and wait their day in asylum court.

Comprised of about 100 active volunteers, Team Libertad depends on compassionate individuals from welcoming communities to serve the 50-100 travelers it greets at the airport on a weekly basis. These travelers are individuals seeking asylum who were recently released from the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Arriving to Hartsfield Jackson with many emotions and few resources, Team Libertad steps in to welcome them to Atlanta and to help meet any immediate or expressed need such as:

• Access to language interpretation

• Use of cell phones to contact loved ones

• Assistance obtaining tickets and boarding passes

• Guidance through security screening and locating departure gates

• Distribution of travel essentials such as personal hygiene items, food, weather-appropriate clothing, and backpacks

Inspiritus aims to help the individuals we serve to discover their inner strength and resilience. In acting as a resourceful and comforting presence to vulnerable asylum seekers who endured long periods of isolation and hardship, Team Libertad walks alongside these individuals as they find their inner strength to navigate the last step on their long journey to safety. We are thrilled to welcome them to the Inspiritus Refugee and Immigrant Services team!

Want to help welcome asylum seekers at the airport with Team Libertad? Sign up for a volunteer shift at bit.ly/airport-signup.

For questions or more information, contact Andrea Espinoza, Team Libertad Program Coordinator, at andrea.espinoza@weinspirit.org.

Sincerely,

Aimee Zangandou
Executive Director of Refugee & Immigrant Services

CALL TO ACTION: Asylum Seekers Need Your Help

Dear Friend,

Inspiritus is grateful for advocates like you who help us accompany and speak up on behalf of our most vulnerable neighbors who are seeking refugee and/or asylum in the United States. If you are interested in advocating for asylum seekers, please prayerfully consider this action alert and call to action:

On February 23, the agency for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed a set of new rules pertaining to the asylum process for vulnerable immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. from the Southern border. Current law under the Immigration and Nationality Act explicitly permits any individual with a well-founded fear of persecution to seek asylum from within the U.S. or at a port of entry. This newly proposed rule, entitled “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways”, would automatically disqualify cases from individuals who seek asylum directly at the border.

If this rule is enacted, it will require that individuals first apply for asylum in a nearby country, and then apply for asylum in the U.S. if their case in this initial country was formally denied.

The process is already very difficult or near impossible for some asylum seekers to navigate on their own. For example, the only way individuals can formally apply for asylum is the CBP One app, the platform through which applicants receive confirmation of appointments and additional correspondence. While access to a smart phone or accessible WiFi is an obvious barrier, the app has reportedly experienced widespread technical glitches and is available in only English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.

While there are a few exceptions to the proposed rule (such as for unaccompanied minors or individuals with exceptionally grave medical needs), these changes would essentially deny tens of thousands of asylum seekers due process when attempting to exercise their legal right to seek safety. It also will put them back in harm’s way. If passed, these changes would take effect on May 11 and would remain in place for the next two years.

The administration is reversing course on its previous commitment to restoring asylum and it is imperative that we speak out. You can help advocate against these proposed changes by submitting a public comment online by March 27th. Click here to submit your comment.

You can find a template below to use as a guideline.

Hello, my name is [insert name] and I am writing from [insert hometown and state] to oppose the newly proposed changes to asylum policy outlined in “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways.” If implemented, these new changes would severely undermine the ability of vulnerable peoples to seek asylum according to U.S. and international law. The additional barriers these regulations would impose are arbitrary and will only prolong the dangerous circumstances from which migrants are seeking to escape. It is imperative that the U.S. uphold its role as beacon of safety and opportunity for immigrants facing persecution in their home countries and as such, it is critical that we do not close pathways for seeking asylum for the tens of thousands of vulnerable individuals and families for whom humanitarian parole or refugee resettlement is not an option. As a(n) [immigrant, person of faith, volunteer, staff of an immigrant-serving organization, etc.], I implore you to reconsider these proposed changes and find solutions that help restore asylum access, rather than dismantle it.

With gratitude,

Aimee Zangandou
Executive Director of Inspiritus Refugee & Immigrant Services

One Year Later: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Dear Friend,

One year has passed since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory, marking the beginning of an ongoing conflict that has forced 6.3 million Ukrainians to flee their country. Since last April’s launch of the Uniting for Ukraine program, around 102,000 Ukrainian nationals were welcomed to the US with the help of highly committed individuals or groups who sign on as their legal sponsors, and organizations like Inspiritus, who provide support to newcomers and their sponsors as they navigate processes like school enrollment, securing employment, and other post-arrival essentials that set them up for success. To date, the Ukrainian Support Services Team at Inspiritus has connected with 384 Ukrainians across Georgia and Alabama.

Photo Credit: Time Magazine

Unlike refugees who come through the formal refugee admissions program, Ukrainians do not currently have a pathway for legal permanent residency, and are instead offered Humanitarian Parole, a form of temporary protected status that while grant authorization and other benefits, does not guarantee a permanent future in the US. Despite these uncertainties, the Ukrainians served by Inspiritus have chosen to turn hardship into opportunity and are on a path toward thriving in their new local communities.

Below are just a few stories of Inspiritus clients whose stories exemplify the resilience and optimism refugees bring with them to the United States.

Meet Sofia Castillo Kozhujovskaya (Atlanta, GA):

Sofia Castillo Kohzhujovskaya is no stranger to moving around. With one parent from Central America and another from Ukraine, she grew up in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico before eventually moving to Ukraine as an adolescent. While she grew up speaking Ukrainian and Spanish, she grew fluent in both English and Russian while in school. A high school senior when the war broke out, she would eventually earn her high school degree through an online English-language high school equivalency program and graduated while spending five months in a refugee camp in Poland.

Sofia arrived to Atlanta on July 27, 2022 with the help of her sponsor, a friend of her mother’s and former Marine. Sofia describes the Georgians she’s met as “very expressive” and “so polite,” emphasizing the strong level of support she felt from Kristian Dawson, Ukrainian Services Program Supervisor in Atlanta, someone with whom she says she could easily connect.

Very soon after arriving, Sofia kept moving forward with her original plans to pursue higher education and is currently a freshman Psychology major at Kennesaw State University where she commutes to and from Alpharetta a few days a week to take classes and tutor other students in Russian as a work-study job through the university.

Sofia is a self-described “gym rat” and enjoys watching the “Walking Dead” when she’s not working out. She hopes to visit Senoia, Georgia sometime soon, where much of the popular tv show was filmed. While she has professional dreams to become a psychological profiler, the price she currently pays for out-of-state tuition complicates the process. While traditional refugees and asylees are eligible for in-state tuition after one year of residency in Georgia, humanitarian parolees like Sofia are considered international students regardless of how many years they ultimately live in the state.

“As an 18-year-old, my income isn’t much. Having in-state tuition next year would help me work toward my goals in a very big way. Some people, especially older people, want to go back, but the life they had in Ukraine does not exist. This is my life now and I want to stay.”

Meet Olha Piatak (Savannah, GA):

To say that Olha Piatak is lucky is an understatement. The day that the war broke out on February 24, 2022, she and her friend, Diana, were on a train on a pre-planned trip to the mountains. As panic ensued back home in Kyiv, Olha and her friend were able to safely make it to the Ukrainian-Polish border where they waited for 24 hours with no food or water before being permitted to cross. After staying with a family in Warsaw for a week, Olha and Diana went on to stay with friends in Berlin, parts of Southern France, and Paris for the next eight months. 

Olha taking in the beauty of Downtown Savannah.

Diana’s mother, who had moved to Georgia three years ago, would go on with her husband to formally sponsor the girls through the Uniting for Ukraine program, sending them across the Atlantic to Baxley, GA, a small town about two hours West of Savannah.

In Savannah, Olha was connected to a member of the Inspiritus team, Olha Maney, who helped her get on her feet as a new US resident. “Olha is an amazing person,” she says. “We’re so happy that we met her because she really did care about us. Not only did she help us with preparing documents and so on, she was always asking how we were doing. It is so sweet to realize that people care because you’re new to this country and don’t have many friends or people around.”

Olha has since left Savannah after reconnecting (and falling in love) with a former classmate from Kyiv. After moving to Chicago where her now partner was living, they chose to follow the footsteps of many other young dreamers and moved out to Los Angeles where they are happily living and preparing to take their drivers’ license exam. While Olha used to be a graphic designer in Ukraine, she hopes to combine her business degree and love of baking to eventually start her own line of sugar-free baked goods. Finding a job at a bakery is the next step after getting her license and a car.

Olha’s message for US lawmakers? “Ukrainian people are super hard working and open for opportunities to start and live our life here. Can you imagine a situation where you started a life and you’re thinking about your future and the government is telling you to go back because parole is over? Please do not destroy our plans. We want the opportunity to naturalize.”

Meet Olena Vyshyvanyuk (Birmingham, AL):

Olena Vyshyvanyuk epitomizes what it means to be a servant leader. As soon as it became clear she and her family would be sponsored by an American family in Birmingham, she started to look for employment opportunities that would allow her to help fellow Ukrainians seeking refuge in Alabama.

After learning more about Inspiritus online, conversations with our Ukrainian Services Support team began overseas and continued in-person both as a client receiving services after arriving in November 2022, and eventually as a new staff member who was hired in January 2023 as the Ukrainian Services Case Manager for Alabama.

Olena and her family on Christmas Day in front of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Birmingham.

In little over three months since their arrival, Olena’s family has found a real home in Birmingham. Her husband, with whom Olena shared a fabric business back in Ukraine, is working in alterations currently and has plans to start up his own business again in the future. Her three daughters have quickly made new friends and spend their time after school engaged in various activities from dance, basketball, and art. Of Birmingham, Olena says, “I love the people here. People are really kind, sincere, and always trying to help with open hands. We love the schools here and the weather. Here, it’s not so cold!”

For Olena, helping other Ukrainians with similar experiences serves as an outlet for healing. Her ability to empathize with her clients, along with her fluency in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, similarly offers her clients a sense of trust and connection as they navigate challenges around finding their own housing, employment, etc.

“Inspiritus is doing a great job. We are making it easier for them and they really need help. I just hope we can help more people.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

With no imminent resolution to the conflict in sight, much remains uncertain, including the future of Ukrainians living in the US with humanitarian parole. Below are some ways you can take action to ensure these individuals can continue to live a life of safety and prosperity in the US.

• Call your members of Congress and tell them to support legislation that offers status adjustment for Ukrainians, Afghans, and other populations with Humanitarian Parole. Click here to find your US House Member and Senators.

• Sample Message: “My name is [Insert Name] and I am your constituent from [City, State]. [As a person of faith/a refugee/a veteran/community member], I am asking that you support legislation offers status adjustment for Ukrainians, Afghans, and other vulnerable populations we welcomed through the humanitarian parole program. Without the opportunity to become a legal permanent resident, groups that the US government helped evacuate or otherwise help escape conflict will face uncertainty and insecurity. Congress has historically passed similar bills for vulnerable evacuated populations, and this legislation is similarly needed now. I encourage you to revisit the advancement of an Afghan Adjustment Act and new legislation that can offer similar permanent protections for Ukrainians and others with humanitarian parole.

• Support US sponsorship of Ukrainian nationals and other vulnerable populations seeking safety. Uniting for Ukraine is still seeking US-based sponsors who can commit to providing temporary housing and assistance to Ukrainians willing to relocate to the United States. Ukrainian-Americans and Ukrainian or Russian speakers are especially encouraged to apply. Visit Welcome.US or contact Kristian Dawson, at Kristian.dawson@weinspirit.org for more information.

• Donate to help empower Ukrainians on their journey from surviving to thriving: www.weinspirit.org/donate

With gratitude,

The Refugee & Immigrant Services Team

Inspiritus