A Facebook group started by several Moose Javians is helping to co-ordinate aid for Ukrainians choosing to resettle in Moose Jaw due to the ongoing war in their native country.
Although they are not refugees, many Ukrainian immigrants are fleeing violence from cities being indiscriminately and brutally bombarded by Russian forces. Mariupol, for example, has lost more than three quarters of its pre-war population of over 400,000 people. Russia’s siege of the city resulted in its almost total destruction.
As a result of that aggression, families such as the Shyshko family from Kherson left Ukraine with almost nothing.
The Facebook group Ukraine help and exchange in Moose Jaw is a growing community of people who want to help these newcomers settle into their lives here with everything they might need.
“I kind of jumped on board around September,” explained Christy Schweiger. Schweiger is the education co-ordinator at the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery and is very involved in the community. “I was kind of wondering in the community, what was going on? How many Ukrainian people are here? And nobody really seemed to know.”
Schweiger reached out to the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council and its Newcomer Welcome Centre division. However, those organizations are focused on aiding government-sponsored refugees rather than immigrants.
“I started asking more questions and still, I was confused by the process. I thought, well, I’ve got the skills to start a Facebook page, so why don’t I start there and see who I can muster up?”
That page has quickly grown to be the hub for information about new Ukrainian families and what they need. Schweiger discovered that there are Ukrainians in Moose Jaw, and there are people helping them.
Glenda James, for example, started hosting a Ukrainian family in July after a chance meeting with a friend at the grocery store. She has hosted exchange students in the past and had a basement suite the family used until they found their own place.
The family staying with James needed clothing, kitchen supplies, furniture, and more. With the help of friends including Linda Law and Gail Reader, James found these essentials.
James, Law, and Reader are now among the nearly 350 members of Ukraine help and exchange in Moose Jaw.
Together with Schweiger and other community-minded volunteers, the group co-ordinates rides, connects newcomers to employment resources, arranges donation pick-up and drop-off, finds trucks and strong backs for moving days, and helps with house- and apartment-hunting.
It’s a place to meet, help, and participate.
In a letter drafted co-peratively by the group, they point out that the city wants to increase its population and would benefit from pulling together for Ukrainians.
“Many young Ukrainians with valuable work skills to offer are seeking a new home in Moose Jaw,” the letter states. “We are building a community of support for them. We want to keep them in Moose Jaw.”
Suggestions of ways to help range from hosting a family in a spare room or basement — the most pressing need, group organizers agree — to donating furniture in good condition, to creating laundry, linen, bathroom, or kitchen baskets filled with essentials.
“These people had jobs, homes, and were entirely self-sufficient until the war,” the letter says. “They are eager to rebuild.”
The best way to help is to join the Facebook group and ask about current needs.
“This is what Moose Jaw does well,” James said. “As a city, we come together, we know each other, we tap each other on the shoulder to help. And that happens all the time, not just in this situation. I think that’s something to celebrate about our city.”
