Our First Resource Fair for Ukrainians in Iowa

On Friday we hosted our first ever resource fair to help connect community resources to Ukrainians who have recently arrived here in Iowa. It was a tremendous success. We were so glad for all the connections we made and everything we learned about resettlement services in Des Moines throughout the planning process.

We want to take time to thank the organizations who came out to provide resources to the Ukrainian community:

• Bureau of Refugee Services

• Catholic Charities

• Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) - Admissions and ELL Classes

• DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority)

• DMARC (Des Moines Area Religious Council)

• Des Moines Refugee Support

• Food Bank of Iowa

• Greek Orthodox Church of St. George

• Hoyng Insurance Group

• International Rescue Committee

• JoAnn Barten (Immigration Lawyer)

• Lutheran Services in Iowa

• Olga Tenney, MD (Broadlawns Medical Center)

• Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa

• Speaking Russian in Des Moines Group

• Shalom Community Impact Center

• US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

• West Des Moines Human Services

• A special thanks to several Ukrainians who have been living in Iowa a long time who hosted the “Ask-a-Ukrainian” booth as well as our nursing expert Kimberly!

The links above will take you to the organizations’ websites so you can learn more about what they do or figure out how to access more resources. We also put together this handout for the event with follow up contact information for all of the organizations if that is more helpful.

We also have to thank the amazing volunteers who showed up to help our organizations translate as well as Fox Brewing for providing the space, DMACC Admissions for providing pizza, and the Starbucks on Fleur for providing coffee.

If you would like additional information about resources in the Des Moines area for recently arrived Ukrainians, please visit our Resources page where we will continue to add useful resources and information.