A Tacoma organization is still welcoming Ukrainians displaced by war. Here’s how many | Opinion
What would it take to force you to flee your home, community, everything you know and love, and head for a country with a different language and culture — really, a whole different way of living — so that you and your family would feel safe?
It generally takes some terrible calamity, an immense natural disaster, like an earthquake or hurricane, to drive people from their homes. Or they may be fleeing a human-caused disaster — like war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, more than 40,000 Ukrainians have been killed, 55,000 injured, 15,000 missing, and 14 million displaced.
To escape this violence, more than 200,000 Ukrainians have left their homes, businesses, schools, friends and loved ones, and have come to the U.S. seeking refuge, according to the Biden Administration.
Many Ukrainian families have come to the Pacific Northwest to find that safe place, and many have come to the Tacoma area. Over the past year, Lutheran Community Services Northwest has resettled 108 Ukrainians in the Puget Sound region, 116 in Vancouver and 42 in Portland.
They chose this area not just because the mild climate is similar to back home, but because many have friends and relatives who settled here and have become contributors to our communities. Washington trails only California and New York in the size of its Ukrainian population.
LCSNW, through our refugee resettlement program, has been helping Ukrainians start new lives in Washington and Oregon for decades. In Tacoma, we welcome them from our office in a historic church near Wright Park.
We assist with initial resettlement services, helping children enroll in schools, facilitating employment for parents and doing what we can to make that difficult adaptation process a little easier.
We arrange affordable housing and provide furnishings, household goods and laptop computers. We orient newcomers to neighborhoods, and connect them to English language and job training classes. We educate them on federal and local laws, the American banking system, how to access health care, use public transportation, shop economically and so much more.We even connect kids (and some adults) with reconditioned second-hand bicycles. One family of asylum seekers wasn’t eligible for full resettlement services, but we gave them household starter kits and a bike for their 10-year-old daughter. “You replace our sorrow with joy,” the mother said, “and give us the idea that we are not alone.”
Of course, we could not be nearly as effective if we had to do this work by ourselves. We rely heavily on local volunteers, from church groups who adopt families to individuals who provide transportation to medical appointments and job interviews. Or help with informal English lessons. Or just drop by to be a friend.
Best of all, this generous spirit is color-blind. Without it, we would have been hard-pressed to welcome 889 Afghans out of our Tacoma resettlement office in the past year and a half.
There isn’t a lot that you and I can do about the war raging in Ukraine. But there is quite a lot we can do to welcome new neighbors, even something as simple as a friendly smile and a cheerful, “Good morning!”
At LCSNW we proudly tell people we were born in Tacoma 102 years ago. And we are proud to serve a community characterized by friendliness, generosity and welcoming hearts toward our new Ukrainian neighbors.
Daryl Morrissey is Director of Refugee Resettlement for Lutheran Community Services Northwest. An authority in cultural orientation, Morrissey has previously lived and worked in places including Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Jordan. He currently lives in Tacoma with his wife and son.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 5:00 AM.