A beautiful thing – Local Love grants help displaced Ukrainians feel at home
Leaping, twirling, intricate footwork in a beautiful, colourful costume – all of it makes 12-year-old Sofiia smile because it reminds her of home. It’s something she gets to do weekly as part of Mriya, a traditional Ukrainian dance troupe that practices in the basement at New Westminster’s Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral.
Thanks to support from United Way BC’s United for Ukraine Local Love Fund, which provided grants for costumes and transportation, Sofiia is now a lead dancer and has performed in shows across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley since arriving in Canada with her father, Serhii, an artist, and two siblings from the war-torn Ukraine just over two years ago.
“I have friends there,” Sofiia says of the dance troupe. “It’s fun being with Ukrainian friends dancing together.”
Emergency Response takes many forms
In times of crisis, United Way BC is here to lend a hand. By utilizing our extensive network of volunteers, partners, donors, and supporting agencies, we have organized strategic, rapid responses for the substantial challenges that affect our communities. We have provided immediate and long-term support during COVID-19, floods, wildfires, and welcoming displaced Ukrainians into the province. Since 2022, United Way BC’s United for Ukraine initiative has supported Ukrainians like Sofiia and her family seeking safety and belonging, with a multitude of resources.
“We instantly felt the support of the community,” says Sofiia’s mother, Mariia, who arrived two months after her husband and children and works as a medical office assistant. “We were able to communicate not just with the Ukrainian people, but there are lots of English-speaking volunteers, so we could communicate with them, practice English and be friends.”
Along with secure housing, goods donation and volunteer service support, United for Ukraine also supports events and projects promoting Ukrainian culture through Local Love microgrants of up to $1,000. As basic needs are met for newcomers, maintaining well-being is vital to both emotional and mental health and overall resilience for those far from home and with family still in Ukraine.
The dance troupe has grown from just a handful of children to three separate groups of both children and adults with 35 members. Along with dance performances, Local Love grants have supported almost 100 events since 2022 including a Christmas Market, Vertep – Ukrainian puppet theatre, cooking and conversational classes, music recitals, and art exhibits. Celebrating this unique culture not only makes people feel welcome but helps build bonds and creates and strengthens connections between Ukrainians and their new neighbours.
“When Russia attacks Ukrainian cities, civilian people, and children, we are devastated, but Ukrainians never give up. Our language, history, and culture were attempted to be destroyed for centuries, but it is something too big for an aggressor – it is eternal, and we nourish our resilience from it,” says Olena, United Way BC Volunteer Coordinator for United for Ukraine. At a new dance group “Ukraina”, also funded by United for Ukraine Local Love Fund, Olena has heard many comments about how Ukrainian dance brought people to life again, emotionally and morally.
Sofiia comes from a household of artists and dancers. Her Dad, Serhii, painted the dome at the Holy Eucharist Cathedral along with two other artists from Ukraine as many large-scale artworks found throughout Ukraine and Canada.
“Unfortunately, we have neighbours that are systematically trying to destroy us, our nation, our culture. It’s important to resist that, even being here. And thanks to Canada, we have the memories and the traditions preserved,” Serhii says. He is grateful to the organizations like United Way BC that have supported Ukrainians displaced by war and that have helped kids like his to feel welcomed.
Teamwork and empowerment
Father Mykhailo, the pastor at the Holy Eucharist Church doesn’t dance but he likes a good Ukrainian folk song. When the war in Ukraine broke out, he moved quickly to helping newly arrived Ukrainians make a home here through settlement work.
“One of the things that I learned is that I can’t do everything by myself,” Father Mykhailo says. Over the course of a year, with support from United Way BC, the Government of Canada, MOSIAC, AMSSA, SUCCESS and the Immigrant Services Society of BC, his organization grew from just one employee – himself – to 16 full and part-time employees supporting newly arrived Ukrainians and those still in Ukraine. The other lesson he learned was how important it is to empower others.
“Not all of us are called to go to the front lines of Ukraine and lay our lives and pick up arms and fight. We can do a lot here,” he says. “The [United Way BC] Local Love Fund is a good example of where individuals are empowered to run their own art and cultural programs, concerts, educational activities. It’s beautiful how the whole community is strengthened by these individuals and now the whole Ukrainian family in Lower Mainland has many of these events to be proud of.”
“People who are coming to our events, they feel a little bit at home. They can speak their native language, they can feel their traditions,” says Iryna, who works with Father Mykhailo as a volunteer and project coordinator. “United Way, this funding, it’s not about only money. It’s a helping hand that takes care of people. This is a very important thing to give people this chance to be in the community.”
“When you feel you are a part of something great it’s just incredible and the whole community is very strengthened and powerful. That’s where resilience is because then we can withstand any storms and any problems and any challenges you know internally and externally,” Father Mykhailo says.
United for people in need
United Way BC brings people together in tough times. With your support, we’re here to make a difference, where and when it’s needed most. Help us strengthen vital connections in your community.