Resettlement effort evolves, needs in focus

There are now seven Ukrainian refugees living in Warren County.

And the organizer of the First Lutheran Church's resettlement ministry, Tom Pierotti, is continually "impressed" with the way people in the community have stepped up to help.

It's clear the community is willing to help and help in every way possible. And just how people can continue to support the effort is coming into clearer view.

"I've been so impressed with the way people have helped," Pierotti said.

And that help has been in so many forms.

Pierotti is the designated sponsor for the second family that has arrived in recent weeks and shared some of the ways people have embraced this family since they arrived in early November.

Volunteers drove to Buffalo to get them.

A volunteer stocked the cupboards and the freezer with food but went a step further -- using a special printer to print labels in Ukrainian for each of the spices on the rack.

Volunteers have taken them to doctors visits, haircuts and twice weekly toward YMCA.

Refugees are able to apply for food stamps and Pierotti said the family was recently at Aldi and didn't realize that the card wouldn't pay for certain things.

"There was a woman in the next line who heard the conversation," he said, asking if the family were refugees. Once she learned they were, she "pulled out a 20 dollar bill and took care of it. There's an incredible amount of compassion here.

"That just happens. Everybody wants to help."

As the ministry evolves, those needs are coming into clearer focus.

Pierotti said an open house is in the works for Jan. 29 in the afternoon at St. Joseph Church for the two families that are here which will give the community an opportunity to meet them.

It's a joint effort between First Lutheran and St. Joseph, where Father Rick Tomasone sponsored the first family.

Pierotti said they view it as important that the resettlement ministry be a collaborative effort.

"This is a wonderful way in which this congratulation and the Roman Catholic congregation can say 'we're sharing a ministry together' and that's a good thing."

It will also be an opportunity to raise additional funds before they know that there are large expenses coming down the line as these families settle into life in this community.

"There's going to be some big, expensive items like cars," he said. "You can't give in Northwest Pennsylvania without a vehicle and they don't come with money to buy a car."

Rent for one year was donated for these families as part of the resettlement process but organizers know that rent and utilities will be "a big bill that we're going to have to pay."

While job interviews have been promised to the adults in the families, it takes time to get permission from the government to be able to work.

Pierotti encouraged anyone that wants to give something to the families at the open house to consider a card with a gift card.

"People are so wanting to give them things," he said. "We're allowed to give them things but they don't need too many things."

He noted, though, that cash to the fund set up to cover those looming, expensive costs "would be best," explaining that both churches have a special fund setup for that purpose. "That's the preferred way of helping."

Another way to get involved? Additional sponsors are needed.

But, he stressed, that process is a team effort.

"I'm happy to speak with anybody and tell them about my experience," Pierotti said. "It doesn't have to cost them a whole lot of money. They have to be willing to have a little stress and it will cost them some."

He explained that prospective sponsors will need to submit a wealth of information to the government including tax returns, a letter from their bank which includes balances and a letter from their employer. Once they're here, there's the process of signing them up for all the relevant government documents and services.

"You're promising to support your beneficiaries for two years," he said. "Now that doesn't mean my family has grown by four dependents."

That's where all the volunteers who are assisting have come into play as well as financial resources from the resettlement fund.

He said he would offer a prospective sponsor the knowledge that "I know lots and lots of other people that are going to help if you sponsor.

"It's not that scary…. The joys of doing this far exceed the stress," he said. "I don't want to minimize the stress (but) the joys are genuine."

A report commissioned by county government officials gave a pretty wide window of the number of refugees existing county infrastructure and services could successfully support.

"We're only at 7 at this point," Pierotti said. "The report said we could handle 40, I think. It takes a little while.

"It's not time to put on the brakes."