Chicago welcomes new educational hub to support displaced Ukrainians
December 10, 2024
CHICAGO — It has been nearly three years since the war broke out in Ukraine, leaving millions displaced. Thousands have since made a new home in Chicago and new resources are now at their fingertips.
Having your life uprooted by war and having to flee your home country is already traumatic, and a whole wealth of issues one might face in a foreign environment can only make the situation worse. But now, a new educational hub is on hand to help the tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians who have arrived in Chicago.
“Our mission is to help and to motivate people to move forward and we give skills for this,” Mariya Boguslav, Coordinator of the Ukrainian EduHubs Network, said.
Boguslav sat down with WGN-TV on Tuesday to talk about an initiative known as “EduHubs,” which she helped launch after the war in Ukraine began almost three years ago.
“We created a network of EduHubs one by one in different countries now includes 70. Actually, the Chicago one is 70. So it is very important for us,” Boguslav said.
The hubs are all over the world already, but this will be the first in America. It was officially launched in conjunction with Wright College and the National Association of Higher Education Systems, known as “NASH.”
“We looked to Chicago first, because across the country, Chicago has taken in the second largest number of displaced Ukrainians since 2022, second only to New York,” NASH Program Lead Olivia Issa said.
Since the war began, 8 million Ukrainians have been scattered across the globe and tens of thousands are now in Chicago.
Starting a life over from scratch is no easy task, especially when considering language barriers or the possibility of credentials not being transferrable.
“There are folks with significant previous credentials who need to work jobs completely unrelated to their previous professions,” Issa said.
Even for those who overcome the language and educational barriers, simply finding a sense of community can be difficult.
“Really one of the biggest things you lose, out of displacement, is your social network,” Issa said.
The EduHub aims to help with all those things, and more, by giving people the tools to chart their own course.
“Not just, you know, social refugees who just sit and, you know, eat other country’s budget,” Boguslav said.
And, while navigating a new city, the resources they will find here, will also help keep their own language and way of life alive.
“It’s very important to have this connection,” Boguslav said.
Click Here for more information on the EduHubs.
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