The outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022 led an estimated 6.5 million Ukrainians to seek new homes in other countries, according to Andre Krug, the CEO of KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia. About 100,000 ended up in the United States. And around 1,600 of them came to Krug’s community center on Jamison Avenue for help.
KleinLife has assisted only a small percentage of the people in need. But its local contribution has made an international impact.
In July, the United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grande, named the community center’s Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement Program as one of the three best of its kind throughout the United States.
Krug said the UN found out about the Jewish organization’s program through media coverage. Last summer, KleinLife provided free camp to more than 50 Ukrainian kids. It continued to help those families with an after-school program during the academic year and services like work authorization assistance for mothers.
This summer, the camp is up to 60 kids. About 10% of the refugees that KleinLife helps are Jewish.
“I couldn’t believe they were calling me,” Krug said of the UN.
The honor is part of the international body’s U.S. Content Mission, according to the CEO’s email to his community announcing it. Recently, UN representatives came to Northeast Philadelphia to interview Krug, community center employees, parents and children.
They plan to create content from the interviews and distribute it through UN social platforms and publications.
“This mission aims to showcase inspiring refugee stories, organizations and welcoming initiatives in the United States,” Krug wrote in his email. “We are delighted to have been featured.”
The CEO went on to thank Northeast and Jewish Philadelphians for their “incredible support.”
To start the program, KleinLife leaders reached an agreement with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. The Federation would match the funds that the community center raised. Within two weeks, Krug and his team received $130,000 between residents and the Federation. The CEO estimated that 200 residents gave money.
That gave KleinLife what it needed to start helping Ukrainian mothers and children in rebuilding their lives. Many were without husbands and fathers because men were fighting in the war, according to Krug.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said of the financial contributions. “You could not come to the building and see these kids and stay ambivalent.”
For the kids, the Northeast Philadelphia organization has offered art therapy, STEM programs, English as a second language and math classes.
“We are very proud of our art therapy program, which has proven to be an essential tool in helping refugee children cope with the trauma of war and displacement,” Krug wrote. “Through this program, these young individuals find solace and healing, allowing them to embark on a journey of recovery and hope.”
The nonprofit organization raised an additional $300,000 to continue the programs through the school year and into the summer, according to its leader. But many of the kids have been in Northeast Philadelphia for more than a year now. They speak “very good English,” Krug said.
“They are ready to be kind of mainstreamed,” he added. “We’re trying to get them enrolled in various programs that are offered to the rest of the populations that we serve.”
KleinLife is also going to “come up with some kind of arrangement” for kids not ready for those programs.
“We can’t do everything for free all the time,” Krug said.
But the long-term goal is to integrate these families into American society, according to Krug. He wants them to have the kind of immigrant experience that many Northeast Philadelphians have had before.
Most of the refugees want to stay. But Krug calls it “a complicated issue” because husbands are still fighting for Ukraine. At the same time, the children in Northeast Philadelphia are going to school, making friends and learning English. The moms have jobs.
But with the war ongoing, that is not a decision that any family needs to make now. So, in the meantime, Krug and his team will keep trying to help.
“It’s the whole tikkun olam thing. They showed up on our doorstep. It’s our obligation to help them,” he said. “This is the principle we used in the past year and a half.” T