SALT LAKE CITY — A professor at the University of Utah is putting the focus of his research on helping refugees get involved in science.

That’s because he knows what it’s like to start over.

The professor’s study of the universe is building connections here at home.

The big event Tuesday was a new $1.1 million array of cosmic ray detectors on the roof of the Refugee Services building in Salt Lake City.

Crews install a $1.1 million cosmic array. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)

You can tell that what makes Dr. Tino Nyawelo proud are the students behind it.

You can build a window into some of the building blocks of the universe. Parts are being lifted and assembled to detect cosmic rays.

Nyawelo said these young minds are what matter here.

“These are some of the most amazing, talented students,” Nyawelo said.

Dr. Tino Nyawelo said his refugee students are amazing and talented. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)

It is the young people helping him with those high-energy particles arriving from deep space. He understands them in a way other professors might not.

“In 2007 I felt at home here because Utah is a very welcoming place for refugees,” Nyawelo said. We have about 65,000 refugees. I met many, many of my classmates here.”

Restaurant owner starting culinary school for refugees

He fled his home in Sudan as a graduate student and eventually went to the University of Utah.

“Tino is really involved in the community and wants all the youth, especially refugee youths, to do well,” Reman Adhikari said.

Adhikari’s mother came from Bhutan by way of Nepal.

Nyawelo wanted to help refugee students get involved in science, knowing they were all coming from different education levels and backgrounds. He started about five years ago with an after-school program.

“I mean, some of them were infants when they came to the United States. Some of them were in elementary school,” Sarah Braden said.

Dr. Sarah Braden from Utah State University brought her experience with science and language education to the refugee program. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)

Nyawelo partnered up with Braden, from Utah State University, bringing her background of science and language education.

Braden said, “My job was to figure out, OK, ‘How do we create a really positive science learning environment?’”

It seems to be working.

BYU Student Gives Voice To Refugees, One Story At A Time

Student Firdaus Voukari said, “Well, I think he’s, like, very relatable and does help us with connections.”

The result is huge.

Nyawelo said, “When you see them succeed, that is something that you can’t describe.”

The University of Utah professor plans to expand his program to engage more refugees in science by taking it to other high schools, to all kinds of students.

We could eventually see cosmic sensor arrays, on top of schools around the state.

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A professor at the University of Utah is putting the focus of his research on helping refugees get involved in science.

The “A Babe is Born” live nativity began Friday night in Lehi. While it’s meant to spread Christmas sprit, it’s also provides assistance to refugees.

LEHI — The “A Babe is Born” live nativity began Friday night in Lehi. While it’s meant to spread Christmas spirit, it also provides assistance to refugees. 

Founder Matt Flake says a lot of work went into the event, but wants the experience to be as real as possible. 

“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” he said. “We want the experience to feel authentic. We also have wanted it to be hands-on for the children. Here they can pet a donkey, llama, the bunnies and sheep. The animals are roaming freely. It really feels like ancient Bethlehem.” 

On Friday night, 72 different actors portrayed shepherds, wise men, innkeepers, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 

“Each actor is a refugee,” Flake said. “We pay them each night for their time. Many people, who attend, comment on how beautiful it is to see baby Jesus portrayed by a black baby.” 

Many of the refugees have migrated from African countries. 

Jeanete Mukeshinana came to the United States after escaping horrible and violent living conditions in Africa. She spent some time in Tanzania before coming to America. 

“Every day I was scared,” she said. “I had two babies. We left so much family behind in that horror. I knew zero English when I came here.  I don’t know how we survived.” 

Mukeshinana said she appreciated the help from “A Babe is Born.” 

Last year, the organization raised $65,000 to help hundreds of local refugees. Each ticket sold to the event equals a meal for a refugee. 

“Tickets are a fundraiser and some attendees Venmo extra donations,” Flake said.  “It really is pretty incredible what people do.” 

There were many event-goers who came with bags in hand. Inside were donations of mittens, coats, and socks for refugees. 

“We take the donated money and use it to send back to their camps across the world,” Flake said. “We send chickens, goats, and flour.  There are so many who live in third world villages who need our help.” 

“I thank God I am still alive,” Mukeshinana said.  “Being here is special. Celebrating the birth of Jesus brings me hope.” 

“A lot of these refugees have stories that are incredibly hard to hear,” Flake said. “They have parents, children, siblings, who have all been killed. Some of them are still missing. They show us how good we have it here and how many blessings we have,” Flake said 

The live nativity is held at 1174 S. 1700 West in Lehi. With the exception of Sunday, it will run through Tuesday. 

Those interested in buying tickets and donating to refugees can do so here. 

(CNN) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that the US should not accept refugees from Gaza, as tens of thousands flee their homes following an evacuation warning from Israel ahead of a possible ground assault.

“I don’t know what (President Joe) Biden’s gonna do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees. I am not going to do that,” DeSantis, who is vying for the GOP presidential nomination, said at a campaign stop in Creston, Iowa.

“If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic. None of them believe in Israel’s right to exist,” he continued.

DeSantis argued that Arab states should accept refugees from Gaza, who are attempting to cross south into Egypt, rather than refugees being “import(ed)” to the United States.

DeSantis’ characterization of Gaza residents is not supported by public polling on the issue. In a July poll by the pro-Israel organization the Washington Institute, 50% of Gazans agreed that “Hamas should stop calling for Israel’s destruction and instead accept a permanent two state solution based on the 1967 borders.”

Rival GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley on Sunday responded to DeSantis’ remarks by saying the United States “has always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists,” adding that’s what Americans have to do following the Hamas attacks.

“You have to realize that whether we’re talking about Gazans and Palestinians. All of them don’t – you have half of them at the time that I was there, didn’t want to be under Hamas’ rule. They didn’t want to have terrorists overseeing them. They knew that they were living a terrible life because of Hamas,” Haley told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

In the wake of the surprise attack on Israel last weekend by the militant group Hamas, DeSantis and other Republican presidential hopefuls have voiced strong support for Israel. DeSantis and others have used the attack to argue for hardline immigration policies and stronger border security in the US.

On Thursday, DeSantis pushed back when confronted by a voter at a market in Littleton, New Hampshire, who questioned Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

The voter said that he doesn’t condone what Hamas did or the “killing of any innocent civilians,” but that “Israel is doing the exact same thing with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a radical, right-wing crazy person,” referring to the country’s prime minister.

“And I see hundreds of Palestinian families that are dead, and they have nowhere to go because they can’t leave Gaza, because no one’s opening their borders,” the voter said.

DeSantis said the voter made a “really good point” by bringing up neighboring countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

“Why aren’t these Arab countries willing to absorb some of the Palestinian Arabs? They won’t do it,” DeSantis said.

The pair continued to have a back-and-forth about the conflict. Before walking out of the market, the voter said: “You had my vote, but you don’t now.”

DeSantis has also taken steps as governor of Florida to evacuate state residents from Israel. He told reporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday that he anticipated the first evacuation flight would land in Florida on Sunday. At a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday night, he said evacuation flights have left Israeli airspace and are en route to Florida.

“We already have planes that have left Israel airspace and are on its way to Florida. We’re going to end up having hundreds and hundreds of Floridians that are going to be brought back to Florida in the ensuing days,” he told reporters.

DeSantis has also seized on former President Donald Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu, slamming the GOP front-runner repeatedly in media appearances and on the campaign trail.

“He attacked Bibi after the country suffered the worst attack it’s had in its modern history. … And he did that because Bibi did not – Bibi congratulated Biden in November. That’s why he did it. He hates Netanyahu because of that. That’s about him. That’s not about the greater good of what Israel is trying to do or American security,” DeSantis said Friday in New Hampshire.

HERRIMAN — A new fine clothing store is opening up inside Herriman High School, all because of a major increase in the number of refugees. However, this store requires no money.

It all has to do with the large influx of refugees the school has seen in the last five years. According to administrators, refugee students have gone from 4% of the population to more than 30% of the population. Jordan School District told KSL TV that on the district level, they’ve gone from 68 refugee students in the 2017-2018 year to more than 750.

The idea for the store came from a group of students in the DECA business club, where students are constantly brainstorming business ideas. Their teacher came to them with a dilemma when he noticed students mentioning they didn’t have a tie or suit coat.

“[A student] said ‘I don’t have one. I don’t own a tie’ and that’s kind of when it clicked,” a Herriman teacher, Randall Kammerman, said.

He presented it to the students and they came up with the “Herriman Hanger”. A completely free store with all the dress-up clothing a student could need. They have brand-new and like-new ties, dress shirts, suits, dresses, and blouses.

Herriman Hanger logo in Herriman High School. (KSL TV)

Seniors Kensleigh Eagar, Emily Reinoso, and Seth Haaga are behind the operation.

“We don’t want to hold them from succeeding just for something as simple as clothes,” Eagar said. “They’re saying, ‘Oh I don’t have a shirt to wear to this event’, or ‘I don’t have this’. As more students come in and as you are in classes you realize more students lack the essential things they need to succeed in school.”

“It touches my heart and I want to be able to help them,” said Reinoso. “They steer away from joining clubs or sports for fear that they won’t be able to access the clothes they need.”

“They can now join the clubs they want, do what they want, because they have the clothes and they don’t have to worry about that,” Haaga said.

Kammerman said this is what learning is supposed to be about — a change for good.

“It’s pretty cool to see how kids think beyond themselves. To think how can I help other kids,” he said.

The students have teamed up with Scheels, for those wanting to drop off clothing. People can also drop off clothing at the Jordan School District and Herriman High School.

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Herriman High School students open a clothing store full of ties, suits, dresses and more for refugee students to take advantage of and help with their education.

There is a lot of talk about the need to house Utah’s growing community, but as refugee families arrive, one organization isn’t so much concerned about the house itself as they are about what’s inside.

SALT LAKE CITY — There is a lot of talk about the need to house Utah’s growing community, but as refugee families arrive, one organization isn’t so much concerned about the house itself as they are about what’s inside.

Catholic Community Services is one of the main providers for refugees in the Beehive State and often the ones to great them when they arrive.

Aden Batar, the Director of Migration and Refugee Services, oversees all of the programs and cases for new refugees.

Batar said Catholic Community Services provides a home, fully furnished with rent paid for, and check ins with the family for 15 months as it helps refugees find jobs and get their kids registered for school.

“When they first arrive, they just come with their suitcases,” Batar said.

Catholic Community Services owns a warehouse along 400 West and 400 South in Salt Lake where refugees can pick up newly made mattresses, manufactured by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Refugees can also find furniture donated by the community, diapers, soap, utensils, lamps and more at the warehouse.

The Catholic Community Services warehouse is to help refugees who arrive in Utah often with little more than a suitcase. (Erin Cox/KSL TV)

“This store would help them provide the basic things that they need to continue their living,” Batar said. Yet, in August, Batar realized supplies were running low, especially their furniture.

“The need is great is going to continue to grow,” Batar said.

In a typical fiscal year, Batar said Catholic Community Services serves around 600 refugees.

In June, the Biden administration announced the U.S. would welcome 125,000 refugees, and 1,300 would go to Utah. So far, Catholic Community Services has 800 refugees for the fiscal year – those numbers don’t include families fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

Already, 300 Ukrainians have “just showed up at our door,” Batar said. The exponential increase has strained resources, which is why Batar hopes the community will help out.

“We’re asking for our community to support us so these families can be on their way on the road to self-sufficiency,” Batar said.

KSL interviewed one family who arrived just four days before. Khalil Jerodeyyeh brought his family of six from Jordan, joining his brother who moved to Utah two years ago.

“Everything is different,” Jerodeyyeh said through a translator. “The way of living, the design of houses, and the simple life.”

Jerodeyyeh hopes for new opportunities for his wife and kids, but he worries about the language barriers.

“I’m afraid of struggling with the language, especially for my wife,” Jerodeyyeh said. “I speak a little English, but she does not.”

This fiscal year, @CCSUT has helped around 200 refugees above their normal take in, and that doesn't include the 300 Ukrainians who have shown up at their door.

Supplies are running low. I'll show you what they're asking our community to do, tonight on @KSL5TV at 6 PM. pic.twitter.com/eU0wbO3Djo

— Erin Cox (@erincoxnews) September 1, 2023

Catholic Community Services provided Jerodeyyeh an apartment with furniture, pots and pans, beds and blankets, but his family still needs internet and school supplies. He also expressed he’s nervous about keeping his family warm when winter comes.

His family met with case workers at Catholic Community Services to help Jerodeyyeh find job opportunities. The CCS youth team helped enroll his four kids and when KSL interviewed Jerodeyyeh, they were still waiting to hear back from the health team about navigating Utah’s medical system.

“The job environment and job opportunities are different,” Jerodeyyeh said. “Here there is freedom.”

Catholic Community Services has an online list of needs for folks to donate.

It also has created an Amazon wishlist.

CCS offers to pick up any furniture donations. For more information, contact William Maloy at wmaloy@ccsutah.org.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Refugees in Utah gathered Tuesday to protest the Taliban’s rule and call on the U.S. government to take action on the two-year anniversary of the regime’s takeover of Kabul and Afghanistan.

Some of those refugees just arrived in Utah a couple of weeks ago, as people continue fleeing from Taliban rule.

On the corner of West Temple and 400 South outside the federal courthouse Tuesday, people gathered holding signs with phrases like “UNITE 4 AFGHAN WOMEN” and “USA Must Not Recognize Taliban’s Unjust Take over of AFG.”

“Ban Ban, Taliban!” The group shouted, led by Afghan social rights activist Crystal Bayat.

As they crossed the street in front of cars, to a few honks, they continued chanting.

“Taliban are terrorists!” they yelled.

On the day that marked two years since the Taliban takeover, they called for a take-down — and lifting women up.

For people like Frozan Hatami, who arrived in Utah from Afghanistan two weeks ago, the message was just as urgent as it was two years ago. Hatami explained that she was an activist against the Taliban.

Frozan Hatami stands outside the federal courthouse to protest against the Taliban. (KSL TV)

“We are not allowed to continue education. We are not allowed to work. We are not allowed to, like live a normal life and breathe freely in Afghanistan,” she said. “As a woman, I didn’t even feel like I’m a human being, because everything was restricted for women in Afghanistan.”

The danger for her to live in her home country grew as did her voice. She didn’t want to leave her country, she said, but it became a security issue to stay.

“They cannot stand against Taliban,” Hatami said, of female activists back home. “If they stand against Taliban, they will be shoot or arrested by that extreme group of Taliban.”

Laila Basim and Shamail Tawana Nasiri feel that firsthand. They also arrived in Utah two weeks ago from Afghanistan. They visited the Utah State Capitol Tuesday evening to take pictures for social media of them signs that read, “DON’T RECOGNIZE THE GENDER APARTHEID REGIME IN AFGHANISTAN.”

The two spear-headed resistance movements in Kabul, saying the Taliban shot at them, beat them and attacked them for advocating for women’s rights.

Laila Basim and Shamail Tawana Nasiri stand with signs in front of the Utah Capitol Tuesday, two weeks after fleeing to Utah from Afghanistan. (KSL TV)

Basim explained in Persian that she was pregnant and lost her baby while being beaten by the Taliban last August.

Nasiri, who created the Afghanistan Women’s Movement for Justice and Freedom, said the Taliban were following her to her home and threatening her life.

“And the living for me in Afghanistan was hard and danger. And we have no choice. And we leave our country,” she said.

Their movement will continue in Utah, where they won’t face the threat of physical violence or death.

“We’re happy that being here to have a good life and stay away from discrimination and genocide, and have lives same as other human that has life here. And we’re happy to be here,” Basim said, through a translator.

Nasiri said her family, movement members, and media members are still in danger in Kabul.

“I feel just safe here, and all of my thinking is about womans who are right now fights against the Taliban in the Kabul,” Nasiri said.

Back at the federal courthouse, Hatami walked across 400 South holding a sign, garnering support in the form of honks.

She can now fight freely, without fear and she hopes other Utahns will join her.

“Whatever you can do, just to stand with us,” she said. “Support Afghan women in Afghanistan.”

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Refugees in Utah gathered Tuesday to protest the Taliban’s rule and call on the U.S. government to take action on the two-year anniversary of the regime’s takeover of Kabul and Afghanistan.

Kids are getting ready to go back to school in just a few weeks and one thing experts emphasize: if kids feel secure at home, they’ll do better in the classroom.

UTAH COUNTY, Utah –– In the last year, Utah welcomed nearly 1,500 refugees into the state with the help of multiple local organizations. One of those nonprofits is Lifting Hands International, which, year-to-date, has done 129 refugee housing setups, benefiting 447 refugees locally.

Oksana Melnyk and Olena Ivankova are just two of the hundreds of refugees who now call the Beehive State home.

In February 2022, they fled their home country of Ukraine and sought refuge in Europe. By the summer, they moved to Utah with their young sons, all thanks to LHI.

Although they miss their home and those they left behind, they are grateful that they were able to find a new life here in Utah.

“I miss my home. I miss my work. I miss my… all,” Oksana Melnyk said. “I like Utah, and I like the people.”

Tiffany Bloomquist with Lifting Hands International said Oksana and Lena’s story is, unfortunately, one they see too often.

“The suffering that they have gone through and watching other people be shot in cold blood and being able to make it through that themselves, and to make it here, they are just super grateful,” Bloomquist said.

The organization has also helped Oksana find a job as an accountant.

“She is integrating into our community. She is not a drain on society, if anything, she is adding to it,” Bloomquist said.

LHI hopes to help other refugee families in need do the same, saying Utah’s welcoming communities make the transition easier.

“I hope that, for all of the people that come here,” Bloomquist said. “These are families just looking for acceptance.”

Lifting Hands International is always looking for Utahs to help volunteer. They have a warehouse in American Fork where they put together items like hygiene kits to send to different countries.

To sign up, you can check out their website.

In the last year, Utah welcomed nearly 1,500 into the state with the help of multiple local organizations.

Read More: https://ksltv.com/561361/utah-non-profit-celebrates-housing-447-refugees-in-the-last-year-on-world-refugee-day/

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah entrepreneur is creating a space for new restaurant workers to learn the craft.

Lavanya Mahate knows the art of Indian cuisine and she understands the challenges immigrants face when moving to a new country. So, she’s combining her love of food and service to help Utah refugees.

“From the age of six, I remember cooking in my family kitchen. We had a lady who helped us with our cooking as is very common in India. She’s the one that taught me how to make spice blends and make sweets.”

The lessons learned in the kitchen have served her well. After moving to Utah in 2001, she embarked on a journey which took her to graduate school at the University of Utah and two-year internship at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.

“After that, the Salt Lake Chamber sponsored me for a visa. I worked there for 8 years,” she said.

Mahate started her own line of spice blends at the farmers market and then in 2011, opened her first Saffron Valley restaurant – featuring authentic, one-of-a kind Indian dishes. There are now five in the Salt Lake Valley.

“People have helped me get to where i am today and I feel so blessed.”

Mahate’s latest venture allows her to pay it forward. In the back of her Sugar House restaurant, she’s building the RISE Culinary Institute. This is where refugees will get three months of hands-on culinary training, for free.

“And then we have local partners, restaurant partners who will take these trainees as interns a paid internship for six months.”

It’s her solution to helping with the labor shortage in the restaurant industry and supporting refugees, like her who want to be a part of their new community.

“We want RISE to be a safe space where they can come and learn the skills, not only the hard skills of culinary training,” Mahate said. “But also, gain the confidence to go out and find their voice, find their place. Just live their dreams.

The weather has delayed construction on RISE, but it’s expected to open sometime in May so trainees can get to work.

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SALT LAKE CITY —About 700 Ukrainian refugees are now living in Utah after leaving the war-torn country over the past year, according to the Utah Ukrainian Association.

Anya Beus, a Ukrainian-American who lives in Lehi, said some are doctors, teachers and skilled professionals who are starting over in low-paying jobs.

“People lost everything,” she said. “They lost their homes. They lost their businesses or fancy jobs and fancy offices. They’re nobody here. That’s hard.”

Beus says she’s always listening to news from Ukraine, where she was born and raised.

“Some days, I’m really angry,” Beus said. “Some days, I’m crying and feeling hopeless. Some days, helpless.”

One year into the war, she calls the Russian invasion “personal.” More of her relatives could be drafted, and some are already on the frontlines.

“I have a cousin who’s fighting in this war,” Beus said. “I have several friends who are fighting in this war. They have families. They have kids.”

She said Ukrainians are “really, really grateful for all the support.” Utahns have helped Ukrainian families get new homes. West Valley paramedics traveled overseas to provide aid and training. Plus, Utahns have sent countless supplies to Ukraine throughout the war.

On Friday, several nonprofits, including the Responsibility Foundation, sent additional supplies to Ukraine from the Salt Lake International Airport – “medical equipment, a drone, a special laptop, a large amount of protective gear and a little bit of winter clothing.

A pro-Ukraine rally is planned for Saturday afternoon. It’s called “365 Days of Defending Freedom,” with the event scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

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SALT LAKE CITY — At a warehouse off 400 West, volunteers move between isles during an afternoon rush. Stocked shelves sit ready with clothing, toiletries, and children’s books and toys.

Jennifer de Tapia helps shopper Henyer Padrón pick out everyday household items. In a mixture of Spanish and English, she asks him what he needs. Together, they pick out dish soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, and disinfectant wipes.

Everything is free at the Catholic Community Services of Utah Sharehouse.

De Tapia knows she’s taking a burden off Padrón by offering up these items so that he can focus on what really matters– his family.

Padrón tells de Tapia about the situation he’s currently going through. He just arrived in Utah in December.

Henyer Padrón gets help from Jennifer de Tapia at the Catholic Community Services of Utah Sharehouse. (KSL TV)

“Two years he hasn’t seen his family,” de Tapia said, as she translated for Padrón. She explained that he is from Venezuela and escaped the crisis there. The situation in the South American country is dangerous, and Padrón explained that basic items like food are a luxury.

Since entering legally into the United States, he has been trying to get asylum papers for his wife and two young children. Padrón told de Tapia that his youngest daughter is two years old. He left when she was only a month old, and he hasn’t seen her since.

 “It’s a sacrifice that he’s making to come here and be apart from his family,” de Tapia said. “He’s working two jobs to be able to help his family.”

Many shelves are bare at the Catholic Community Services of Utah Sharehouse where refugees can get everyday household items. (KSL TV)

She hears stories like this every day at the CCS of Utah Sharehouse. As a regular volunteer, de Tapia has met refugees from all kinds of situations all over the world. She talked about helping Afghan veterans who lost their limbs fighting alongside the US military. The children she meets have made a huge impression on her, including a girl from Venezuela who is succeeding in school and becoming a mentor for other refugees.

“They’re doing everything they can to work, to learn the language, and just become a part of a [community] to provide a safe place for them,” de Tapia said. “And our community is a safe place.”

Right now many of the Sharehouse shelves sit empty. A list of over two dozen items CCS of Utah desperately needs fills up an entire whiteboard on a back wall. The items range from certain size diapers to kitchen items like trash bags and dishwasher soap.

“If we don’t have all these items in place, it’s going to be impossible for us to provide the basic needs,” said Aden Batar, CCS of Utah Migration and Refugee Services Director.

He explained many refugee families don’t have the means to buy everything from scratch when they arrive in Utah to start their lives over. 

Batar said lately, the Sharehouse has been helping 30 to 40 families a month fleeing from the war in Ukraine. CCS of Utah makes sure their apartments are furnished with all the supplies they need, so the families can focus on paying rent and utilities.

“Every time a family arrives, we are ready to have things delivered to them,” Batar said. “Otherwise, if we don’t have the beds, where are the families going to sleep? If we don’t have cleaning supplies, what are they using to clean their apartment? If we don’t have dishes, what are they going to eat? So, it’s really important that we have all this basic stuff stocked here in the Sharehouse.”

Batar said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supplies all the beds, so they’ve got those donations covered. But they are in need of other furniture items, appliances like microwaves and washers and dryers, and general household items like pots, pans, and dishes.

Batar said jackets and warm clothing are important during the winter.

But what they really need are the long list of supplies that are completely empty from their shelves.

Batar and de Tapia hope those items start coming in soon, for refugees like Padrón. He left Tuesday with a box of staples for his everyday life.

“To be able to give them a little bit of help here, is– it’s great,” de Tapia said.

You can get a complete list of items CCS of Utah needs here.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Sitting on the couch in his Provo apartment, Legran Tadevosyan read aloud from the Bible as his wife Uliana Rohanova and their two children listened. The parents wanted their kids, 9-year-old Oleksandra and 7-year-old Daniel, to learn the story of Christmas.

The family of four hung out on a quiet holiday together, staying home for most of the day.

While the kids were excited about Christmas, Legran and Uliana didn’t have any friends or family to spend it with.

Those times feel like a dream now to Uliana, thinking back to living together as a family in Ukraine and speaking in their language.

For them, leaving everything behind wasn’t a choice.

“We don’t have a place now for return because now Ukraine, it’s a dangerous place,” Uliana said. “And worse than being dangerous, our city is destroyed. And we don’t have a home.”

They wanted to make sure their kids were safe– especially because Uliana is expecting the couple’s third child in February.

Uliana and Legran found out about her pregnancy shortly after they left Ukraine.

“It was surprise,” she said, with a laugh. “But we are happy about it.”

The couple may not have the same network of family and friends in Utah as they did back in Ukraine, but they still have Christmas cheer this season. They put up a Christmas tree and decorated their apartment with tinsel, lights, and stockings above a faux fireplace they created with paper.

“You need some joy and happiness,” Uliana said.

They’re able to talk to Uliana’s family in Mariupol every once in a while, but Uliana explained that cell service is often out. They got to talk to them the day before Christmas, and said their family back home is trying to make the best of things too.

When the couple welcomes their little girl to the world in a couple of months, they know she’ll be safe– and they expressed that it is giving them hope during the holidays.

“We are happy because we are together,” Uliana said. “Because it’s so important you have all your family, and your life. It’s so important.”

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SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees will soon be calling Utah home, and a Salt Lake City organization is making sure they have a place to live and work when they reach the Beehive State.

Catholic Community Services is calling on the community for help as families filter in having fled the war.

In a Sandy apartment Wednesday afternoon, Anna, a young toddler, sat in between her parents, looking at the book “First 100 Words.”

“Cry,” mom Yana Mukhataieva said, reading the word under a picture with a little girl’s face crying. Anna began to rub her eyes, to mimic crying.

As she learns her first English words, she’s learning life in a new country.

Yana and her husband Bohdan Mukhataieva are still unpacking, with boxes in the corner. They recounted making the decision to leave their war-torn home in Ukraine. They watched bombings and missile strikes every day up until they fled to Poland. At times, they had no access to food and had to go without eating to make their resources stretch.

Walking outside was a gamble, and they explained that Russian soldiers would shoot people on the streets.

Bohdan explained that their apartment in Kharkiv wasn’t safe. They taped the windows to avoid glass shattering from the bombs and slept on the floor of their bathroom, away from the outer walls.

“We lived 10 days in bomb shelter,” Bohdan said.

“Yeah, we were sleeping in the underground parking because it was dangerous to sleep in our apartment,” Yana echoed.

The couple eventually left their apartment for Lviv, but life there was also dangerous.

“We decided that because we have a small kid, we need to leave,” Yana said.

The couple arrived in Utah from Ukraine with Anna and their pup, Cola, thanks to local lawyer Lorem Lambert who they met five years ago. They say Lambert taught at their University in Ukraine, and they stayed connected on Facebook. Yana reached out, and Loren was willing to sponsor them through the program Uniting for Ukraine.

The two, who were both attorneys in Kharkiv, are now starting from scratch. They won’t be able to practice law in Utah and must find new industries to work in. They also needed to find a place to live and had to buy all new clothes and furnishings.

The family moved into the Sandy apartment with help from Catholic Community Services of Utah.

CCS of Utah is currently doing the same for more than two dozen Ukrainians who have already arrived, that Director of Migration and Refugee Services Aden Batar explained are part of the 300 refugees sponsored by Utahns through Uniting for Ukraine.

“We provide case management, employment services, health services, education for their children, matching them with volunteers,” Batar said.

But in order to help the hundreds coming in, he said they need more volunteers, plus donations like furniture, household items, and electronics, including laptops. They’re also looking for employers willing to hire refugees, and for people willing to foster children who arrive without their families.

The goal is to help the refugees become self-sufficient in a short period of time, he said.

“We’re trying to rebuild their lives and provide them all the basics that they need so they can become part of our community,” he said.

The Mukhataievas are thankful for that help as they wait on their work permits. Their hope is to stay in Utah for at least two years.

They’re also hoping to build a safer life for little Anna.

“It’s very hard to leave your home, but it will be better to stay here,” Yana said.

Click here to learn how to help CCS of Utah welcome in Ukrainian refugees, including how to donate and volunteer.

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SALT LAKE CITY — For many, this Independence Day is a reminder of their goal to gain full citizenship. There’s a small group that meets twice a week in Salt Lake County to help refugees and immigrants get closer to gaining their U.S. citizenship.

The English Skills Learning Center has designed a unique English class that sets students up for success in their citizenship application. The curriculum focuses on helping immigrants and refugees pass an oral interview and written test covering a range of topics including U.S. history, politics and government.

“There’s high stakes here,” said Kara Vail, the program coordinator at ESLC.

Passing the citizenship application motivates the students, said Vail. Their program has a 92 percent pass rate.

“Most of the students that already take the initiative to come to our classes and choose to participate, usually pass,” said Vail.

The ESCL program has around 25 students enrolled. The citizenship test is not cheap – it costs $700 and the application process takes about a year.

Vail said their program partners with the Catholic Community Services and can offer legal services and special waivers to decrease the fee.

The program itself receives around $200,000 to $250,000 in grant money from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, allowing them to provide the classes for free.

“This is probably the most prestigious grant for this type of education,” said Vail. “We’re very proud to be the only one in Utah that has this grant.”

There’s a unique program here in Utah designed to help refugees and immigrants with their citizenship applications.

Tonight on @KSL5TV at 6 PM, I’ll show you what they’re doing — they’ll remind you what being an American is all about. pic.twitter.com/UZil1GuJZd

— Erin Cox (@erincoxnews) July 4, 2022

Hedy Miller has been an instructor with ESLC for more than a decade and has watched the success of multiple students throughout her tenure.

“I think this is probably the most rewarding job that you could have,” said Miller.

Miller’s classes review the 100 questions required for the citizenship interview. In their applications, each student must answer: why do you want to be an American citizen?

“Many want to vote,” said Miller. “Some people want to bring family members and some people want a better job.”

For Hafeez Ahmad, becoming a citizen means he can bring his deaf son from Pakistan to the U.S.

“My son come here and I hug my son,” said Ahmad, through tears.

Habi Yusuf came to the U.S. six years ago from Somalia and learned what Utah had to offer her.

“I like the mountains,” said Yusuf.

In between her work schedule, Yusuf attends class twice a week for a session of 11 weeks.

“I believe in the Constitution,” said Yusuf. “I’d like to vote.”

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SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Music is a language we all understand, and local artists, with the help of refugees, are sharing their talent in hopes of spreading a message of love.

The music video, a DJ Evans Media production, was released on World Refugee Day. It honors Utah’s newest residents and features nearly 50 refugees who have resettled in the Beehive State, including the Voronetska family.

Masha Voronetska, 13, and her family fled Kyiv, Ukraine, at the beginning of the war and made their way to Utah in March. The journey was a heartbreaking and unimaginable experience for the teenager.

“I’ve seen some things that I’ve only seen in horror movies before,” Masha said. “I was scared.”

Masha, who missed the comforts of home, looked for a way to connect with her new community through dance. She began ballet classes, and in June, was asked to perform in a local music video.

“I was so excited to participate,” she said. “All my life in Ukraine, I was going to ballet academy. All my friends are from ballet. Ballet, to me, is a form of art. All the movements are so beautiful and I can really express myself.”

In the video, Masha dawned a traditional Ukrainian flower headdress, along with ballet pointe shoes, as she danced on stage at the Rivoli Theater in Springville.

Local singers Yahosh Bonner and Halee Crowther also performed under images of refugee children painting peaceful, anti-war signs.

Next at 10:00 on @KSL5TV, a return to the stage for a Ukrainian refugee in Utah. How this teen is lending her talents to raise awareness #WorldRefugeeDay pic.twitter.com/adsqsGHtvs

— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) June 21, 2022

The video featured the song “Peace, Be Still,” written by Sharie Saunders Howell and produced by Jonathan Keith. Howell told KSL her goal was to shed light on the refugee community in Utah and to raise awareness for the nonprofitUtah Valley Refugees.

To date, the nonprofit has helped nearly 160 refugees resettle in the state.

The organization’s executive director hoped the video would spread awareness about how they help refugees integrate into new communities and would encourage more people to volunteer and donate to support their efforts.

“Music is the best channel of communicating,” said Leonard Bagalwa, executive director of Utah Valley Refugees. “Many of the refugees featured are children who have been through a lot. These children are innocent. Some of them are born in a refugee camp and they come here so they know nothing about politics or anything that happened in their home county. We just hope that people will join our effort to support them.”

To watch the entire music video, click here.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Ukrainian conflict brought Whitney Holocomb to Poland a few months ago, helping refugees resettle in their temporary shelters. Yet, as the months have continued on, these temporary shelters are becoming more permanent than Ukrainians had hoped for.

Holocomb met one Ukrainian family who has been living in Polish shelters for the past three months — their living conditions, though better than being out in the cold, are not an ideal, long-term solution.

Yevhen Zavoloka, nicknamed “Eugene,” brought his wife and kids, sister-in-law, and friend from Ukraine to live in the Polish shelters Holocomb volunteered at.

“Someone like Eugene was invaluable to us because he was one of the few people that spoke English,” Holocomb said.

Zavoloka and his family have been living in an office space for the past three weeks.

“In this shelter, we have 400 people on five floors,” Zavoloka said.

On each floor, 100 people are sharing three bathrooms.

The poor living conditions are one of the reasons why Holocomb wants to bring Zavoloka to Utah — but for Zavoloka, moving would be more than just switching up their temporary living situation.

“I want to create new life because my life is destroyed,” Zavoloka said.

The Holocomb’s have space in their home, which is why they’re hoping to sponsor Zavoloka’s team of 11 through the federal program “Uniting for Ukraine.”

“There’s a lot of questions,” Holocomb said. “You’re committing to financially support these people for two years.”

There’s no other refugee program like Uniting For Ukraine because it requires individual sponsorships rather than agency sponsorships. The lack of a formal agency also means Ukrainians aren’t connected with resettlement programs, which is where the Catholic Community Services has stepped in instead.

Aden Batar, director of Migration and Refugee Services at Catholic Community Services, has helped families with their basic needs upon arrival in the Beehive State. Batar also encouraged families looking to sponsor Ukrainians to reach out for assistance.

“They can walk in any time,” Batar said. “Our staff are trained to help them and to provide the services that they need.”

Around 30,000 Ukrainians have arrived through the Uniting For Ukraine program and Batar said they’ve already helped a few new families who relocated to Utah.

“We’re helping a family get their food stamp, Medicaid, Social Security, and we can connect them with our immigration attorney who’s going to help them with their immigration paperwork,” Batar said.

The immigration process looks different for these Ukrainians because of their temporary parole status.

Batar said Ukrainians coming over through the federal program are not considered refugees, but rather are here on a temporary status with the potential to gain citizenship.

“We provide a lot of people what they need with immigration, help unite with their families, get their legal status, get their citizenship, and so forth,” Batar said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden said she is heading to Romania and Slovakia later this week to visit with Ukrainian families who fled for their lives after Russia invaded their country in hopes of sending the message, despite language barriers, “that their resilience inspires me.”

The White House announced late Sunday that the first lady will spend Mother’s Day meeting Ukrainian refugees, most of whom are women and children.

The May 8 meeting will take place in Slovakia. Biden is scheduled to depart Washington late Thursday on a five-day trip that will also take her to Romania. Both countries share borders with Ukraine, which has spent the past two months fighting off Russia’s military invasion. Romania and Slovakia also are NATO members.

She discussed the trip Monday while touring a costume exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, saying she would spend the U.S. holiday dedicated to honoring mothers with Ukrainian families who have been displaced by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

“As a mother myself, I can only imagine the grief families are feeling,” said Biden, a mother of three. “I know that we might not share a language, but I hope that I can convey, in ways so much greater than words, that their resilience inspires me, that they are not forgotten, and that all Americans stand with them still.”

The trip will mark Biden’s latest show of solidarity with Ukraine.

Nearly 5.5 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Many have resettled in neighboring countries or relocated elsewhere in Europe.

Throughout the trip, Biden will also meet with U.S. service members, U.S. Embassy personnel, humanitarian aid workers and educators, the White House said.

After arriving in Romania on Friday, she is scheduled to meet with U.S. service members at Mihail Kogalniceau Air Base, a U.S. military installation near the Black Sea.

The schedule then takes her to the Romanian capital of Bucharest on Saturday to meet with government officials, U.S. Embassy staff, humanitarian aid workers and educators who are helping teach displaced Ukrainian children. The first lady will travel to Slovakia to meet with staff at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, the capital.

On May 8, Biden will travel to Kosice and Vysne Nemecke in Slovakia to meet with refugees, humanitarian aid workers and local Slovakians who are supporting Ukrainian families that have sought refuge in Slovakia.

She plans to meet with members of Slovakia’s government on May 9 before returning to the United States.

President Joe Biden visited with Ukrainian refugees during a stop in Poland in March.

The trip will be the first lady’s second overseas to represent the United States by herself, following her journey to Tokyo last year for the opening of the delayed 2020 Olympic Games. The trip also will mark her latest gesture of solidarity with Ukraine.

Four days after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Biden appeared at a White House event wearing a face mask embroidered with a sunflower, Ukraine’s national flower.

She also invited Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, to sit with her during President Biden’s State of the Union address in March and had a sunflower sewn into the sleeve of the cobalt blue dress she wore for the occasion.

Jill Biden spoke Monday at the Met about fashion as a means of communication. She said she had the sunflower applique sewn onto the cuff of her dress because she knew the only thing that would be written about her for the president’s big speech was what she wore.

“And that night, sitting next to the Ukrainian ambassador, I knew that I was sending a message without saying a word, that Ukraine was in our hearts and that we stood with them.,” she said.