Chalice House News

We are excited to report that a Ukrainian family of four will soon be living in Chalice House. They are re-settling in the United States through Uniting for Ukraine, a special humanitarian parole program offered by the U.S. government to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. To apply for the program, you must be outside of the United States and have someone in the U.S. who can support you during your stay.  Sponsorship for this family is being offered by ICDI through a new partner, Self Reliance Association, which facilitated the sponsorship for us; and the Chalice House community will provide the family with housing for a minimum of six months.  You can learn more about how these programs work here.

The father, Oleksander, has been living and working in Poland since the start of the war. His wife Yevheniia and their two daughters, 5-year-old Milana and 14-year-old Veronica, stayed in Ukraine. Their hometown is near the Russian border and was evacuated by the Ukrainian government due to incessant bombing several months ago. They are currently living elsewhere in the country.

If all goes as planned, they will arrive at O’Hare on Thursday, July 18th.  Once here, they will receive Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which enables them to:

• Stay in the U.S. legally for a period of time
• Apply for a work permit in the U.S.
• Apply to travel outside the U.S.
• Be protected from detention and deportation

The new mentor team (duRee Bryant, John Vogel, Kathy Hendrickson, and Sue Judson) and members of ICDI staff are preparing for their arrival.  We are also creating a hospitality team which will include two people from POC who are also recent arrivals from Ukraine. They will help the family get involved with the local Ukrainian community (as you may know, there is already a large community of Ukrainians living right here in the northwest suburbs.)

A thank you to all who helped prepare the home for them, including:

• Ryan, Sarah and Xander Schaefges who organized a zillion books and other toys, and readied 5-year-old Milana’s room for her
• Thom Krak and Mark Lenling for bathroom repair work
• Two terrific work teams who did deep cleaning, kitchen-organizing, re-grouting, and overall home-readying
• Sherry Wilson and her team from the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, who not only drove up from Geneva to help with but also provided a long list of little things we needed, from bicycles and brooms to doll clothes and play-doh
• The Garden Club of Inverness who continues to keep the garden looking lovely

See pictures below!

We will share more as soon as we can. In the meantime, thanks to each and every one of you in this community for making it possible to welcome our third family.

Thank you for your continued support. Feel free to contact us at ChaliceHouse@ccuu.org

Gratefully, Christine, Laura, and Debbie; Chalice House Team Co-Chairs

P.S. Mark your calendar for July 28 at 10 AM and join us for a worship service at Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist entitled “YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard), Stories of hope in the midst of a migration crisis.”  Speakers will share personal stories from a range of perspectives about what it takes to get re-settled here, from navigating the U.S. immigration system to finding a good job. And why would a business want to hire immigrants anyway? We’ll hear from one local business owner who has made hiring immigrants an important part of the company’s business strategy.