[Angela Boelens] I'm going around town and delivering.

We'll call it Santa cash to all of our Ukrainian friends.

Back in 2022, I decided to sponsor one family from Ukraine.

It was like every other American, and I felt bad.

And I knew there was something I could do.

After about 2 or 3 families that I had relocated into DeWitt, Iowa, the community just fell in love with the families, and they actually came to me and they raised about $500,000 and they said, please help more people.

... I'll talk to you later.

I'll see you, honey.

Here.

[Boelens] With that amount of generosity, it just really needed a 501(c)(3).

I'm a professor at Augustana College and the founder of Iowa Nice, which stands for Iowa Newcomer Integration Community and Exchange.

[Charity Nebbe] The Matiitsivs are one of the Ukrainian families Iowa Nice help to relocate to DeWitt.

Natalia and Luib and their three children: Daughter Yeva, and two sons, Makar and Tadei.

[Boelens] We do the paperwork through U.S.

Immigration Services, fill out forms for their Social Security card, fill out forms to get them, insurance, get their kids enrolled in school, get them set up with the primary doctor.

There are some required tests that the government asks them to do within 90 days.

That help them find a faith organization if they desire.

We want to make sure the families that we invite here are a good fit for our community.

[Nebbe] While the Matiitsiv family has lived in DeWitt for almost a year now, The memories of what they experienced before leaving Ukraine remain fresh in their minds.

Natalia, you lived in Ukraine for two years after the war had already started.

What was that like?

[Natalia Matiitsiv] I would say it was really horrible.

Every day, or the pray and hope that it stopped.

It seems like it will stop in three weeks.

It will step in months, then in half a year, then a year, and then we realize that it won't stop.

There were times that we didn't have electricity.

We didn't have a gas power.

That was a disaster.

And the kids were sick.

And you didn't have even water.

[Nebbe] Tell me about the family you left behind.

[Natalia] My sisters sister's husband is a military, so she said, I won't leave him.

I have to be there.

My mom has to take care of my granny and they can't leave.

We pray every time for them and just hope for hope that everything will be okay for them.

For a family to find a new school, a new job, a new place to live, everything from the beginning.

It's very difficult.

From the other side you feel that you are supported.

You are not alone.

When I lived for a year here and feel this calm, relaxing atmosphere there, you can work, earn money, think about your future.

DeWitt is such a small city.

It's only 6000 people, but it's their generosity, their help, their will that we all are here.

[Boelens] The population in the state of Iowa has been falling off every single year.

If it were not for immigration, it would be a steep decline.

I think they're going to get their actual parole pretty quickly, but the amount of paperwork that it takes to get one family here is an incredible in particular, small communities.

We just don't have the infrastructure that typically is needed for new people to come here.

The U.S.

Department of Agriculture actually paid for us to go and train seven different counties in Iowa, on the work that we do.

We want to know what kind of job skills they have.

They will be able to find work in this area.

[Nebbe] Skilled labor can be hard to find in and around DeWitt.

Luib is an experienced woodworker and quickly found employment making cabinets for a local production company.

[Thomas McNeil] For someone to come into our shop and having experience doing woodworking, we just can't find anyone.

Luib came from a wood shop in Ukraine and he understands how things get installed.

He just understands all the steps, everything matters.

We have to be on our toes, on everything.

To have a guy come in with a skill set, His skill set is very valuable to us.

So we really want to retain him.

[Boelens] With a 100% success to this point, those families have jobs.

Their kids are doing well in school.

Then they're enrolled in English language classes, [classroom] Grand.

Almost exactly how those are written.

Nice job.

Beautiful handwriting.

Yeah.

[Boelens] And we now have a bunch of students in our school system who can talk to other students about what it's like to live in a place that is now at war.

We then work on transitioning them into complete financial independence.

January 2025 hit.

The government paused the processing of those applications.

Many of the families now have lost their ability to work in the United States through no fault of their own.

This is, again, pausing the processes we've now had to find ways to keep them safe.

None of our people use government benefits so they don't use Snap dollars.

They don't use refugee cash assistance companies are more reluctant today than they have previously been to hire people who are not here on a permanent residency card.

We've shifted our work more towards educating the public, educating our families and raising funds for temporary support until hopefully they're able to work again.

[Nebbe] Your status right now gives you one more year to be here.

What do you think about the future?

[Natalia] Oh, first of all, we will apply for, re parole, or a TPS, whatever we can.

But my husband's employer, he said that he wants to apply for a working visa for our family.

But I know it's a long time.

We just hope for the better.

And as my husband says, just enjoy your time now.

We don't know what to expect.

[Nebbe] What do you want Iowans to know about what is still happening in Ukraine?

[Natalia] I would say it's a disaster.

Every time it's getting worse and worse.

So many dead.

My neighbors, my friends, we just, the guys I studied with.

And every time I just see that, oh, there's died.

And they all were young.

Now there's so many families without a father, son.

[Nebbe] While, Natalia and Luib hope to find a way to extend their visas.

They live with uncertainty.

They don't know what the future holds for their family and their lives in DeWitt.

For now, they try to live their lives in the present with hope that they can make this small Iowa town their forever home.

[Boelens] Either the community rallies around their new neighbors and help support them, or they have to return to Ukraine.

It's its economic benefit.

It's the joy of giving that we receive in our small community.

And on a personal level, it's knowing that we've done the right thing to keep families and children in particular, safe.

[Natalia] These lives that we have here, it's much better than we had in Ukraine.

You know that these are just so for me, like a holy person.

We are looking for a saint somewhere, in the sky.

But they're around us.

You don't know who.

Who are these people?

But I'm really thankful to everyone.

... I always tell Angela that she is an angel for all of us, and that's truth.

She helped us.

She saved our lives.

She saved our families.

Go go go go go.

We won't forget it.