Meet Ben Wolf of Kent

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Wolf

Hi Ben , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

The Kolya Project, a charitable organization, assists, evacuates, migrates, supports, resettles and develops Ukrainian war refugees for life in America.

Co-founded by a career United State Diplomat and a lifelong businesswoman, the project has shown success after success in the safe movement, acculturation and resettlement of Ukrainian refugees into Northeast Ohio. Over the last year, the Kolya Project has grown to lead a formalized coalition of non-profit entities, housing specialists, crisis counselors, cultural specialists, neighborhood organizations, volunteers, and religious organizations. The Kolya Project is an ideal example of true international humanitarian work performed at the local level.

The objective of the Kolya Project is to safely, legally, ethically and sustainably resettle Ukrainian war refugees to Northeast Ohio. Having successfully resettled multiple Ukrainian war refugees to Kent, Ohio, a small university town with an understanding and welcoming international community, we will continue to use the blueprint from our previous projects and to work with our pre-existing coalition of non-profits, religious organizations and companies that have allowed successful projects in the past.

In partnership with you, we can continue The Kolya Project’s humanitarian work on a larger scale. We have pre-designated properties, host families, sponsors, language courses, crisis counselors, schools, jobs and a welcoming community excited to assist in the welcoming,acculturation, education, training, workforce development and resettlement of multiple families of Ukrainian refugees and families.
Our mechanism of immigration is the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) program that matches sponsors to war refugees and implies a 2-year financial commitment on the part of the sponsor. This program effectively and efficiently allows status as a humanitarian parolee (or refugee) and all the protections this status implies. We have work closely with DHS and USCIS and in conjuncture with refugee agencies in Northeast Ohio, social security offices, child and family services and business owners in Portage County and have been fully successful in our previous resettlement programs.

Our formalized partnerships with the Kent Presbyterian Church in Kent, Ohio, Habitat for Humanity in Ohio, Kent State University English Language Center, Kent Social Services, and other social organizations have allowed our previous projects in Ukrainian war refugees to be met with applause and community involvement. Neighborhood organizations are becoming more involved, and donations have been sufficient up until this point, but now we are applying for grants to make this program larger and sustainable and more organized into the future.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Each day we find difficulties. The war itself presents challenges. Our refugees often arrive with only a backpack. Many have lost family members. Many have lost their homes. They arrive with trauma.
Some refugees don’t have language abilities so working can be difficult. This is why immigrants often have great educations but have to take a lower wage job or entry level due to the language barrier. We do everything we can to find them jobs, language classes, professional education and skill building workshops. We work with our coalition members to help the arriving refugees find purpose and success.

Our organization exists from the goodwill of others, meaning we require grants and donations to continue our work. The grant application process is grueling and opaque. We sometimes become defeated trying to ask for donations. It’s a long, difficult road, as we would rather be concentrating on helping rescue and resettle refugees than spending our precious time asking or applying for funding.
That, I would say, is our biggest challenge.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We have two Co-founders:

Becky: she is a career businesswoman, mother, and grandmother
Ben: he is a career United States diplomat

We are proud of our organization in that we are doing something that nobody else is doing. We are not a large refugee organization, but rather a small independent non-profit that works from rescue to resettlement.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
We watch the international news quite closely.
Our organization and our refugees are directly affected by decisions made by the White House.

Pricing:

• We would love any donations possible

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thekolyaproject.org
• Instagram: thekolyaproject