MINNEAPOLIS — Six months after Russia initially invaded Ukraine, a Minnesota-based organization remains on the ground helping those caught up in the most significant refugee crisis in the region since World War II.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at least 12 million people have been displaced since the start of the war in Ukraine – either within the country or throughout the region.
But Alight – formerly the American Refugee Committee – responded to the crisis within days of the February 24 invasion. Over the months, Alight’s outreach has evolved according to the needs of those displaced: from providing hats, gloves and heated tents; to ensuring refugees have access to needed medicine, food and safe shelter; to working with Ukrainian-based organizations to provide needed services and even comforts from home. And also over the months, Minnesotans of varied backgrounds have responded to the call for help.
A Trio of Minnesotans Make a Difference
Mary Nicol
Mary Nicol of Plymouth, Minnesota, was not unlike most Minnesotans when the Russia-Ukraine war began: she was stunned by the images and headlines, and frustrated by the inability to immediately help.
“I found that I was really angry, and I was sometimes in a state of just disbelief, like, ‘How does this happen?’” Mary shared with KARE 11’s Karla Hult hours before she boarded a plane bound for Poland.
Sure enough, Mary wrestled with the lack of answers to her questions. And so the retired Medtronic medical safety specialist and nurse decided to reach out to the organization she knew was already on the ground: Alight.
“I told them, I said, ‘I mean, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. It doesn’t matter,’” Mary recalled about her early conversations with Alight staff members.
Weeks later, Mary had booked her flight and was destined to help teams working along the Ukrainian-Poland border.
“The idea is that I’ll work on their psychological first-aid training,” Mary said, adding that she’d specifically be working with local housing guides – many of whom had just fled Ukraine themselves. “What I’m really hoping is to bring some awareness to key things that they can focus on, not just in terms of the refugees, but also in terms of their own self-care.”
"I just felt super compelled to do something," Mary said about her role.
And Mary was not the only Minnesotan to feel compelled to "do something" with her unique skills and background.
Artem Artyushkov
Today, Artem Artyushkov calls Chaska, Minnesota, home. But the electrical engineer grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine and still has family and friends in the now conflict-plagued country.
“I still have two sisters in Kyiv, younger and older. I talk to them almost every day since the war started,” Artem said about his persistent outreach to his family.
Like everyone in his new community, Artem watched every nuanced development in Ukraine. But Artem also harbored concern for his loved ones, along with a strong desire to lend his voice, empathy and talents to his native land.
“When the war started, it was shock in the beginning. Absolutely – feeling of disoriented – what to do, how to help, what’s going to happen,” Artem recalled, before reflecting on when he found the Minnesota-based Alight. “I’m so glad I found Alight. [It gave] me an opportunity to bring me here, right to the border with Ukraine.”
As an Alight volunteer, Artem has served as a local housing guide and in other roles during an extended stay in Poland. He’s able to speak his native language to those navigating a long journey and a new home.
“Being at the border, just talking to Ukrainians telling them that they’re safe now, that that’s over for them – there’s no more suffering… It feels extremely fulfilling,” Artem shared from Poland.
Hahn Chang
As Alight’s Quick Impact Coordinator in Poland, Hahn Chang carries a responsibility to oversee the organization’s current outreach. But as the grandson of Korean refugees, he also carries a legacy of gratitude and understanding.
“My grandparents were born and raised in the northern part of Korea, what is now North Korea. And in 1945, when the Soviet Union came – under the threat of death – they had to flee. And they came down to South Korea and started rebuilding their lives,” Hahn recalled about his family history which also included another chapter of becoming refugees during the Korean War.
“There’s this story that has been told to me many times, that’s a part of my family’s history. It’s something I think a lot about. This idea that refugees want to go home. My grandparents weren't ever able to go home to what is now North Korea, but they always dreamt of it,” Hahn shared from Poland.
It’s that family foundation that Hahn – who grew up in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and is now studying for his Master of Business Administration in Spain – now brings to Alight’s respectful approach to working with refugees.
“It just makes it all the more important to me to obviously meet the basic needs of refugees – obviously, the food, the water, the shelter, the medicine – that’s incredibly important. But what inspires me with an organization like Alight is how do you uplift the refugee? How do you empower these folks? How do you put them at the center of everything that you’re doing? And that’s something that’s incredibly personally inspiring to me, and what drives me to do this work and be a part of this great organization,” Chang said.
Partnering to ‘Do the Doable’
Six months later, Alight continues to meet dynamic challenges – related to changing circumstances within the war and refugee crisis – by finding potential resources and partners within Ukraine and throughout the region. Among Alight’s critical endeavors since the war started: a partnership with Airbnb that has helped the organization – and their guides meeting refugees at train stations – provide nearly 20,000 safe nights of housing to Ukrainian refugees.
The organization further estimates they’ve served nearly half a million people since their outreach began, by providing both essential items and, even, comforts from home.
“There was a long line of people. People were smiling and really enjoying themselves,” Mary recalled about one “Changemakers 365” project – an ice cream social – that also served the organization’s Haven Project. The Haven Project is Alight’s effort to honor displaced people by seeing their overall humanity and delivering relief through practical items of joy, be it books, toys, even ice cream.
“The kids loved it, and it was just a great moment,” Mary said before offering this assessment of Alight: “They’re an organization that doesn’t just focus on providing services. They focus on the whole person. And they take that very seriously.”
Welcome Home Program
On August 24, Alight embarks on its next “serious” effort to assist those displaced by the Ukrainian conflict. The organization is broadening its Welcome Home Program – first created to help refugees from Afghanistan – to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine. Minnesotans will have an opportunity to sponsor Ukrainian families as they relocate to a safe home within Minnesota.
The effort is Alight’s contribution to the Uniting for Ukraine program, a service by the United States and European countries to offer a safe haven for Ukrainians. Under the program, the United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians to the United States for an initial two-year period.
To learn more about how you can sponsor a Ukrainian family or support Alight’s other efforts, just click here.