By Dr. Patrick Curley, assistant governor District 7730, and past president and president-elect 2024-25, Rotary Club of The Friendship Knot
The Rotary Club of The Friendship Knot is an e-club in District 7730 and is unique in that its focus is the integration of Rotary International and World Scouting. All of the members of the club are registered Scouts. During one of our meetings, we learned about Scouts in Ukraine from Olha Dybkaliuk. It was a very emotional presentation and I felt that I needed to do something.
I learned about Welcome.US through an article in Rotary magazine. The nonpartisan national initiative was created in 2021 to inspire Americans to support those seeking refuge here and has been finding host families for those fleeing the war in Ukraine. I had been following the news about Ukraine for some time and felt there must be something I could do to help.
My wife and I are both retired teachers, and though we don’t have a lot of money, we have a couple of empty bedrooms. We also have access to plenty of resources through our involvement with Rotary International, Scouting, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, and membership in several veterans’ associations as a former U.S. Marine.
We signed up on Welcome Connect, the online platform to connect sponsors with Ukrainians. After completing online training, we were connected with a number of Ukrainians through the platform. We ended up matching with Kateryna (Kate). She and her sister Daria were seeking to come over together as their mother did not want to leave their father, who is in the military. We corresponded and connected on Zoom and all agreed it might be a good match. My wife and I submitted the necessary forms to the U.S. government and then Kate submitted her forms, and several weeks later received authorization to travel.
Unfortunately, Daria was still awaiting her new Ukrainian passport, as her old one had expired. After waiting quite a while, and no sign of the new passport, the sisters made the tough decision to separate as Kate’s travel authorization was about to expire. Kate departed for the US, while Daria returned to her parents in Ukraine to wait for a passport.
Kate arrived in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on 27 May, after a few days in New York. She has done a great job of settling in here in eastern North Carolina, which is much quieter than her home of Odessa.
We spent the first week completing forms and promoting Welcome.US to church groups, Rotary clubs, TV stations, and a radio talk show. Kate speaks English very well and is really enjoying the welcome that she has received here.
The area Rotary clubs have embraced Kate and are stepping up to help her find the resources she will need. In a very short period of time, we have been able to secure a social security card, bank account, medical assistance and have visited the local colleges to discuss attending classes in the fall.
This has been an amazing experience for my wife and I. It’s been a pleasure to watch Kate move forward with her life and have so much appreciation for how my family and community have embraced her.
On World Refugee Day 20 June, Rotary recognizes the resilience, strength, and contributions of refugees worldwide. Rotary clubs are doing their part to help alleviate the global refugee crisis including responding to the need in Ukraine, assisting North Korean immigrants in South Korea, helping refugee camps in Rwanda, and providing life saving surgeries in Lebanon. Find more projects that are helping refugees and read these blog posts about Rotarians taking part in the Welcome.US program.
https://blog.rotary.org/2023/06/20/north-carolina-rotarians-help-ukraine-refugee/