IDAHO, USA — Boise is the only city in the United States where Ukrainian is the third most common spoken household language behind English and Spanish, according to a report analyzing U.S. Census data.
Ukraine is one of the top two countries of origin for refugees arriving in Idaho over the past year and a half, according to Idaho Office for Refugees (IOR) Communications Manager Holly Beech. Since March 2022, 588 Ukrainian people have received resettlement services in Idaho. The previous 10 years, only 125 Ukrainians had come to the Gem State through the IOR program.
"That only includes people receiving refugee resettlement services, not Ukrainians who may have come to Idaho through other forms of immigration," Beech said. "The Treasure Valley has a very connected and engaged Slavic community as we saw in the robust local response to the war and the grassroots effort to help. Some Ukrainian families who resettled in the U.S. in the 1990s due to religious persecution turned around to pay it forward for people now experiencing displacement."
The Idaho Alliance for Ukrainian Refugees and Immigrants (IAURI) was founded by those aiming to pay it forward. Currently, they assist 563 people across 259 cases - many of them are families.
IAURI opened as a direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They work to meet needs on a case-by-case bases not covered by other refugee resettlement programs.
The need for IAURI services more than doubled compared to a year ago. The organization also teaches Ukrainian and Russian classes to preserve and share their culture.
"A lot of kids who grew up here or even if they moved from Ukraine recently, but they learn English so quick," IAURI Education Coordinator Mila Tabas said. "They start to speak English more, not their native language, Ukrainian language. This is why I really like it. I can help to save their native language."
IAURI's language classes are open to the public; they cost $45 a month.
"I feel like Ukrainians received so much more support than it was in the past," language teacher Ivanna Miakota said. "That only tells me that so many people are coming from Ukraine that it is not being unnoticeable."
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