SPOKANE, Wash — Two years into the war between Ukraine and Russia, the impacts are still being felt thousands of miles away in Spokane.
Shortly after the conflict broke out, Spokane's Thrive International began preparing to shelter and support refugees fleeing the violence. Executive director Mark Finney says they quickly turned around a former hotel along I-90 into short-term apartments and the nonprofit's office space. Since then, nearly all of the 93 rooms have been full.
Now, Finney is ready to open new doors.
"So, here it is," he said, opening one of the units where refugees stay upon arriving. The suites look much like they did when they welcomed short-term travelers, except there are more personal touches like bunk beds for children and donated, handmade quilts on the beds.
For two years now, these repurposed hotel rooms have been a refuge to people from around the world.
"We want to help people get from surviving when they first get here to really thriving," Finney said.
Tuesday, Spokane County commissioners awarded Thrive a $740,774 state grant to help stabilize new refugees. Finney says Washington has seen an influx of people fleeing Afghanistan and the war in Russia-Ukraine, which is why the state has tried to fill funding gaps for communities that are offering aid.
Stanislav Zharikov and his family arrived in Spokane three weeks ago from Moscow, Russia after stops in Spain and Mexico. He spoke to KREM 2 News through a translator.
"The first thing, we can live here and the price is not so high, so it's very important," he said of Thrive.
Thrive has seen more than 2,000 Ukrainian refugees since the conflict started in 2022, Finney says. Some, as Zharikov hopes to do, have moved on to full-time jobs and long-term housing.
"We've housed probably 600 refugees in the last two years, but during that same time period, we've had about four, five times that number come into the community," Finney said. "The sooner we can get them out of disorientation and into productivity, the better. Housing's really the key piece of that."
Though that can prove difficult for people who not only have language barriers, but no rental or credit history in the United States. Finney says Thrive will use the grant money to create another transitional facility like Thrive Center somewhere in Spokane; now that funding has been approved, the organization can begin the concrete steps of securing another site and working with community partners.
"Most people stay here around six months," Finney said of the center.
The funding won't be enough to offer space for the 200 people Thrive Center does now, but Finney hopes they can find a location where they can add another 20 or so rooms. Thrive would also like to contract with another provider to open up a multi-cultural child care center, as that's another challenge they see facing many immigrant families.
Thrive Center offers other services beyond a roof over a family's head; their resource team helps connect people to health care, employment, and other services that can help them navigate Spokane.
"It kind of fast-tracks them onto the path of self-sufficiency," Finney said.
All the first steps to rebuilding a new life.
"Here, his family feels like they've come to home after a long time," Zharikov said through his translator.
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