Strength Amid Struggle: Ukrainian Refugees Navigating Life in America
By Natalie King
December 16, 2024
On Feb. 24, 2022, Nataliia Berkuta’s quiet life as an elementary school teacher in Ternopilska Oblast, Ukraine, was forever changed. Across the country, the early morning quiet was overtaken with the chilling sound of air raid sirens and Russian missile strikes. For Berkuta’s family, life in the only home they had ever known had been thrown into danger overnight, and they made the decision to leave for America.
Berkuta arrived in Chicago through Uniting for Ukraine (U4U), a program created by the Department of Homeland Security in April 2022 allowing Ukrainian refugees to enter the United States on humanitarian parole. As of April 2024, CBS News estimated more than 187,000 Ukrainians arrived through this program since the start of the Russian invasion.
While she is grateful for the safety and opportunity the U4U program has brought her, Berkuta acknowledges the transition to living in a new country came with many challenges.
“When I came here my diploma was not worth anything and I did not know the language, so I started cleaning houses,” Berkuta said in an interview translated from Ukrainian. “I feel uncomfortable here because I do not know the language, the language barrier is the most difficult for me.”
Berkuta is not alone in these struggles. According to Refugee One communications director Zachary Dmyterko, many Ukrainians living in the United States experience isolation due to language and employment barriers.
“People have had a very difficult time acclimating to the United States, it's a very different work and cultural environment,” Dmyterko said. “Ukrainians who are arriving generally have a higher education and they can't go back into their professions because we don't recognize the credentials of Ukrainian schools, or because we don't recognize those certificates that they're handing out.”
Dmyterko’s organization is a refugee resettlement agency based in West Rogers Park. The group helps refugees coming in from around the world with housing support, learning English, employment resources and immigration services. Since the start of the invasion, the organization’s three locations across Chicago and the suburbs have been helping Ukrainian refugees acclimate to life in America.
It’s an especially gratifying experience for Dmyterko, whose grandparents were refugees from Ukraine. Dmyterko was in Ukraine as a journalist when the invasion began, and the tragedy he witnessed there motived him to help in any way he could. At Refugee One, he works to tell the stories of Ukrainian refugees, like one nurse who fled when the war broke out.
“She was a nurse in Mariupol which endured a terrible siege and went through horrible fighting,” Dmyterko said. “She was telling me stories of how she was seeing people die on the street and how they had to cook their food over an open fire because there was no gas. When she had to flee the city with her little kid there was artillery coming in, hitting the side of her car. They're so grateful that they are even alive to tell their story and rebuild their life in America.”
The UN estimates that there have been 11,973 Ukrainian civilian casualties since February 2022. Survivors of the conflict also faced hardship, with the International Food Policy Research Institute estimating that 8.9 million Ukrainians faced food insecurity in 2022. The United Nations estimates that nearly 1.5 million homes throughout the country have been destroyed due to the fighting.
Due to the tribulations she faced when the Russian invasion began, Berkuta is thankful for the many small luxuries life in America has to offer.
“The difference between Ukraine and the US is that life is better here,” Berkuta said. “The streets here are all paved and the buildings are nice which makes living here more comfortable for the people than living in Ukraine.”
In addition to experiencing an improved quality of life, Ukrainians living in the United States are also able to find support and friendship within local Ukrainian communities. As of February 2024, Block Club Chicago reported that there are 100,000 Ukrainians living in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
“Chicago especially, has a large Ukrainian community,” Dmyterko said. "There’s always that initial isolation but once they get involved with the community it's quite easy for them to find friends.”
Anna Frid, a resident of Lake Forest, Illinois, experienced support from her community when she immigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States 47 years ago. Her family was assisted by a local Jewish organization when they first arrived in Chicago.
“The Jewish organization was supporting us for six months financially, paying rent and giving us education,” Frid said. “Education was the most important thing because we came from such an opposite country, and we had a lack of knowledge of everything. They worked with us to get us ready for this society.”
Religion was forbidden in the Soviet Union, and Frid’s family faced discrimination for their Jewish background. Frid recalls her daughter was called a “dirty Jew” by kindergarten classmates and told her parents she did not want to be Jewish anymore. When Frid arrived in America, she was able to find solace within the community that she was once ridiculed for being a part of.
“We came to America without much knowledge of Judaism or any religion, and learning about my religious traditions help me feel a sense of belonging here,” Frid said. “I said to myself all my life I was called a dirty Jew, let me learn what it means to be a Jew.”
Berkuta and Frid immigrated to America almost 50 years apart and due to different circumstances, but their stories are tied together by an emphasis on cultural preservation. While Ukrainian refugees living in America face a future of uncertainty, cultural traditions help Berkuta feel a tie to the life she left behind.
“My hobby in Ukraine was baking decorative tortes and cakes,” Berkuta said. “This was my favorite thing to do, and I brought my equipment to the U.S. and started baking tortes here. I also make traditional dishes, vareniky and pelmeni.”