By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A Ukrainian immigrant will lead a Topeka task force of local business leaders and government officials to better position Topeka to support refugees fleeing violence from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden announced Thursday the United States would accept up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. Millions of people have been displaced as Russian bombardments left towns and cities without water, food, heat and electrical power.
The Greater Topeka Partnership, an economic development organization, will participate in the task force led by Yana Ross, who relocated 16 years ago from Ukraine to Topeka.
“I have friends who are currently being housed in refugee camps in Poland. I am working hard to bring them over to stay with me during this crisis,” she said.
Ross said she was convinced other Topekans would open their hearts and homes to people.
Topeka City Council member Karen Hiller, Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce president Curtis Sneden and representatives of the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice as well as the Topeka Community Foundation will be part of the task force.
Hiller, who said she’d heard from people offering to house refugees from Ukraine, said the character of a city was defined by how it responded to people in need.
“This task force gives us an opportunity to explore how Topeka can be part of the solution by creating a sustainable process to support refugees during this conflict and others in the future,” Hiller said.
White House officials said Ukrainian refugees would be welcomed through the U.S. refugee admissions program offering a green card or a process leading to permanent residence. Other could receive visas or be granted temporary entry offered individuals displaced by emergencies or war. The initiative could concentrate on Ukrainians with family members in the United States.
“There are clearly many questions that still need to be answered,” said Matt Pivarnik, chief executive officer of the Greater Topeka Partnership. “How would refugees travel here? What support will the federal government provide? Where can people be housed if they arrive? ”
Sneden, of the Topeka Chamber, said watching the war unfold in Ukraine made him appreciate the stability of life in the United States.
“It is a dream shared by people across the globe, and this dream of Ukrainians is being shattered. It is time for us to band together and look for ways to support them,” he said.