NORFOLK, Va. — A community panel hosted today full of more heartbreaking stories from Ukrainian refugees, who fled to the US and are now here in Hampton Roads.
"Our home was bombed. Nine bombs on my home and I also my friends, and friend of my child, our teacher, my aunt..." said Alina Kumali, Ukrainian Refugee/Panelist.
The Woman's Club of Norfolk organized this panel alongside their other nonprofit efforts in hopes of getting more help from the community. They say they still need jobs, housing, language training, medical support, donations and even social opportunities for their children.
"So as soon as we got permission to try to run, they realized that we do not have any Humanitarian or Green Cards. That we had to run on our own, not knowing if we would survive," said Natalia Skorokhod, Ukrainian Refugee/Panelist.
After the panel, there was an open discussion between locals and community leaders to discuss possible solutions, with some questions left up in the air.
"One of the things that I heard loud and clear, that they're here on Visas, they're refugees. But what happens after their Visa expires or their green card expires? They want to know what's going to happen to them. They have more questions than we have answers and solutions," Kenneth Alexander, Mayor of Norfolk.
Organizers say they can use more help getting the Ukrainians the help they need. The panelists shared their Facebook group (Tidewater Ukrainian Cultural Association) and other ways to support:
To share jobs: (Tidewater Ukrainian Business Network)
To donate (via PayPal):
tidewaterua@gmail.com
To Contact (via Email): tidewater.ukrainian@gmail.com
For more information, visit www.TUCA.US
