We are CCFR
Coordinating Council for Refugees (CCFR) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in March 2022 to support individuals displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Our dedicated team of volunteers consists of immigrants from the former USSR, now US citizens. We understand firsthand the trials of being uprooted and forced to start over in a new country that speaks a different language and has different laws, customs, and culture. We know the heartache of leaving behind familiar lives and the resilience it takes to rebuild and find new purpose.
At the onset of the war, CCFR focused on urgent needs: helping displaced individuals find safety and resources for immediate stability. We orchestrated an urgent humanitarian disaster response at the San Diego—Tijuana border and averted a humanitarian crisis. We engaged with and built consensus between US and Mexican governments, many NGOs, and an even larger number of individual volunteers. As a result, we supported over 25,000 displaced Ukrainians seeking to be reunited with their loved ones in the US.
As the crisis in Ukraine and Russia continues, we shifted our focus to longer-term needs. With many team members directly sponsoring or working with displaced individuals and acting as their champions, we have intimate knowledge of existing and emerging needs. We advocate and help the population we serve to access benefits, gain skills to support employability and integration, and build community. We think of ourselves as puzzle masters, filling in the gaps between needs and available resources in support of our mission — To help displaced people live safe, productive, and purposeful lives in a new country.
Ukrainian Action Summit in Washington DC
In the Spring and Fall of 2023, CCFR attended the community advocacy summit ogranized by the American Coalition for Ukraine. Combined, the two events gathered over 1,000 participants and representatives of nearly 200 organizations. Over the course of 400 meetings with Congressional legislators, advocates pushed for the support that is urgently needed to secure peace and provide the assistance for those displaced by the conflict.
CCFR led the Washington and California State Delegation. Having been on the front lines in Mexico and continuing to work directly with many of the displaced individuals who have entred the US, we contributed a unique perspective and advocated for the specific and emerging needs of the population we serve.
IMPACT
Appropriation of funding for displaced Ukrainians;
Extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS);
Extension of benefit elegibility;
Deepened existing relationships and formation of new partnerships with both goverment champions and other non-profit organizations working in this space;
Leveraging relationships to set up a series of important educational workshops to address three critical needs:
(1) in partnership with USCIS, answering burning questions about legal status and urgent to-dos, as well as how to apply for and extend eligibility for benefits;
(2) explaining the US tax structure and compliance, and
(3) educating about the US medical system and medical insurance options.
CCFR, in collaboration with the iMiracle Project and The Lucky Pen organized three workshops titled "Understanding TPS, Asylum, and Other Immigration Statuses." CCFR partnered with USCIS representative Tim Parsley to provide targeted information for Ukrainian families who crossed the border from Mexico between March and June 2022, as well as families admitted into the US through the U4U program .
The workshops, held on Friday, October 20 (Redmond, WA), Friday, November 3 (Tacoma, WA), and Saturday, December 2 (Federal Way, WA), addressed the unique needs of Ukrainian families.
CCFR offered both live and online options, with all seminars and Q&A sessions being translated into Ukrainian and Russian languages.
A total of 275 people were registered for the workshops, and the overall attendance, including online participants and those who requested recordings/slides, exceeded 2,000 people from Washington, California, and Oregon.
Each workshop was conducted simultaneously in-person and on Zoom, and recordings of the sessions are now available for access.
