Jewish Family And Community Services Pittsburgh Ready To Help Ukraine Refugees If Needed
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - As tension in Ukraine rise more and more each day, more than a million people have fled the country.
That begs the question - could Pittsburgh start seeing Ukrainian refugees?
With each pressing day, more Ukrainians fear for their lives as Russian aggression continues and many of them do not have any other place to call home.
Pittsburgh, however, has long been a transplant for refugees.
Jordon Golin, the CEO of the Jewish Family And Community Services Pittsburgh says they're open to helping, as they have in the past, but the refugee process takes years to go through.
"Normally what happens is people are displaced from their country and the United Nations makes a determination that they be considered refugees," Golin explained. "That they can't return home and that if they were they could become victims of persecution for reasons of nationality, race, religion, or otherwise. After that, the U.S. government does its vetting process."
You may wonder why the process takes so long - considering Afghan refugees were placed in the U.S. within a matter of months.
According to Golin, not all situations are the same.
"Afghan refugees were already known to the U.S. because they were employees of the U.S through the government or military," he said. "We already had personal information on file, we had vetting before they were brought to the country. With Ukraine we have to determine will they be able to go back home. Are these permanent or temporary displacements. The UN has to decide whether or not they meet criteria to be considered refugees in the formal sense of the word."
Once the process starts, he said the JFCS is ready to extend their arms to help anybody.
"We make arrangements in advance to make sure that families have a place to live," Golin said. "We know who they are, how many people are in the families so we can make arrangements, then we actually go to the airport, meet them, welcome them. Bring them to their house or apartment, we enroll them in school, we make sure everybody has health care."
The JFCS said the process could take anywhere from two years to two decades for some families.
Meanwhile, Golin said they've established a page on their website that gives you all the information you need if you are looking to help Ukraine.
