Seeing so much suffering in Ukraine, most of us feel impelled to do something. Making donations that provide humanitarian aid is an obvious and useful way to go. But many people are not sure how to choose among the myriad charitable agencies that exist or whether they want their money to support a wide range of services or focus on a specific need.
Fortunately, there is an organization called Charity Navigator that vets charitable agencies and scores them on several scales. They have been in business for many years, relied upon by savvy donors who want to make informed decisions about where their giving is going. Since Russia invaded Ukraine several weeks ago, Charity Navigator has created a special page that shows just what many well- known charities are doing with respect to Ukraine. Here is a link to that site:
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=9366
And here is the breakdown they use to show which organizations are best at providing specific services: Medical Services – Medical Supplies – Non-Medical Supplies (inc. food) – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) – Emergency Housing – Long-Term Assistance Other (inc. cash/cash vouchers, logistic supply, animals)
But Charity Navigator does not vet all nonprofits that help Ukraine and you might want to know about others, like Nova Ukraine. I heard about this agency locally and, based on my own research, it appears to do admirable work. You can find out more about them here: https://novaukraine.org/
Needless to say, there are other agencies and groups working to support Ukraine operating in neighborhoods all over the country so it could be worthwhile to check online to see what local events or programs you could contribute to.
Some of us have the desire and ability to do something other than give money to assist the Ukrainian people. Perhaps, like me, you have an empty room or two in your home and would be willing to provide short or long term housing for needy refugees. A noble impulse but, as, I recently discovered, likely to be thwarted – at least in the short term. A woman I spoke to at HIAS (a well-known refugee agency) explained that though they are currently helping Afghani refugees to move here, they were not doing the same for Ukrainians. There are reasons this is so.
Although President Biden has allowed that as many as 100,000 Ukrainians would be able to come to the US, it is, after all, pretty hard to get here. Refugees need visas and travel documents and the ability to book passages – things well nigh impossible to get or do in a war-torn country. Moreover, most Ukrainians are not seeking to move permanently to countries far from home. Their hope is to return to their own country, as soon as possible, whenever that may be. I recently learned about an interesting work-around: some Polish-American families are inviting relatives living in Poland to visit them here, thus making temporary housing in Poland available to Ukrainians now.
Of course we do not know what the housing needs of Ukrainian people will be in the future. The war is still raging and no one knows how long it will last. Down the road, it is likely that more Ukrainians will seek shelter in this country –- and others. So it is good to know that two young Harvard students have built an online bulletin board that will enable Ukrainians seeking housing to find those able to provide it.
Here is a link to their website: https://www.ukrainetakeshelter.com/
-JH