Wenatchee Non-Profit Helping Ukrainian Refugees Getting $286,000 Grant

A Wenatchee non-profit group that recently staged a concert to help Ukrainian refugees is getting a major boost in resources to further its cause.

Friends of Ukraine Refugees is getting $286,000 in grant money with a requirement that it be used by the end of June.

Kay Fisher works with the non-profit, and she says the money will be quickly spent to fill the many needs of 10 families who have relocated to North Central Washington.

"These people, when they left, they only took the cloths off their backs," said Fisher. "There's no toys for the kids, no clothing, medicines. They are starting from ground zero, literally."

Friends of Ukraine also plans to handle all the housing needs for the families, from furniture to first and last month's rent.

The grant money starts at the federal level before it flows through the state Department of Commerce, and then moves to the Chelan County Commission where it’s directed to local non-profits.

Fisher says the money is meant for Ukrainian refugees who've arrived in the U.S. with no means to support themselves at the outset.

"Those monies are to help the families that are here right now, mainly because it takes a while to get it all set up and processed, working with the landlord," Fisher said. "By the time all that gets done, June 30th is right there."

The money will be used on 10 families who've been identified in the region.

They include about 30 Ukraine refugees, in four families, from the Ukraine-Russia war that have located in Wenatchee within the last two months, some within the last two weeks. The money will also cover another 40 people in six families who are in Moses Lake and Soap Lake.

Fisher says Friends of Ukraine Refugees is hoping to secure about $900,000 in grant money in the next two-year cycle.

The concert fundraiser Sunday night brought in roughly $22,000 in donations. Fisher says the organization has raised a total of roughly $50,000 locally.