BAR HARBOR — The group that brought two Ukrainian families to the U.S. last year and settled them in Bar Harbor isn’t finished.
“We’ll be sponsoring another Ukrainian family, hopefully in late spring, and we’re hoping to sponsor a Haitian family later in the year,” said Art Worster, president of the Hancock County Neighborhood Support Team (NST).
The NST is a group made up of representatives of four Episcopal parishes on Mount Desert Island and St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Ellsworth.
“Two weeks ago, we received our 501(c)3 nonprofit determination. That’s a big step,” Worster said. “We’re now working with the congregations to create an advisory council, pulling together the work teams we’ll need when we sponsor our next families and get them settled somewhere in Hancock County.
“Of course, we’ll face a challenge with housing, but the broader we can cast our net once we get the advisory council established, the more likely we will be able to find suitable housing.”
Worster said the two Ukrainian families the NST settled in Bar Harbor last year are doing well. He said the parents are working and the children are flourishing in school.
The NST relocated the families under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Humanitarian Parole program. Families whose applications for resettlement are approved must have guaranteed financial support from a sponsor, such as an NST member, to get them on their feet. Their stay in this country is limited to two years, but there are several pathways through which they may become eligible for permanent resident status.
