PORTLAND, Ore. — It's been almost one year since the war in Ukraine started, and thousands of refugees have come to the United States since it began. Oregon estimates that 3,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the state within the past year.
Serhii and Yuliia Zadachyn and their four children have been in the United States since fleeing their home in Ukraine last April, and would like to stay permanently. Serhii said getting to the United States was a long road, but he's happy his family is safe. He said they were lucky that their city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, was not occupied.
"It was just by a miracle, but it was destroyed a lot," Serhii said.
Once the family was able to get out of Ukraine, they flew to Mexico and entered the United States through California, then came to Oregon. When the family arrived in Oregon, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) started helping them with things like furniture, rent and utilities.
"It was very uncomfortable for me because I did not use to receive that much help," Yuliia said. "Help and support was everywhere, at the school with kids, at all organizations, we weren't used to that."
The Zadachyn family came to the United States with a "Parolee" status, which will be up in April, but the family can't go back to their hometown in Ukraine because it's still a war zone. They hope to stay in Oregon.
"We came here with the humanitarian parolee, but it will be expired in April of this year," Yuliia said. "We don't know if we will stay here or have to go back to Ukraine, it's unknown for us now."
Irena Cheredayko works with the Slavic and Eastern European Center with IRCO. She said the organization has helped ore than 1,000 Ukrainian families over the past year. She came from Ukraine when she was a child in the 1990s, and she said she understands how hard it can be.
"I still remember the struggle," Cheredayko said. "I am really enjoying helping clients."