We are excited to hear from Bernadine Joselyn who just spent three weeks at the Polish-Ukrainian border welcoming and processing evacuees fleeing Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Bernadine, who is director of Public Policy and Engagement at Blandin Foundation, lived and worked in Russia 20 years ago with the U.S. Foreign Service and other international development organizations, and now lives in Grand Rapids, MN with her Ukrainian husband. Bernadine heard about the opportunity to help and quickly found herself in the evacuee center at Korcwoza, about 20 kilometers from the actual border; it was a huge wholesale warehouse space, repurposed for the evacuees. Volunteers from all over the world had come to help. Some were organized with groups such as Red Cross of Doctors without Borders; some came without affiliation. With Ukrainian men between the ages of 16 and 60 forbidden from leaving the country, the evacuees were overwhelmingly women and children. Some had left with nothing but the clothes on their back.

Bernadine’s mission was to make them safe, meet their immediate needs (food, clothing, SIM cards) and to help them find a place to stay. Bernadine will tell us about the process, the people and the politics as well as how we can help. You can learn more about her trip from her recent article in the Women’s Press.  

Resources: How to host Ukrainian refugees: US Department of Homeland Security.  dhs.gov/ukraine.   We Are Light- formerly American Refugee Committee, based in MN is Coordinating humanitarian relief on the ground. Accepting donations. https://wearealight.org/ 

Register for our Wednesday, May 18 Webinar!